


Klaus' New Year's Eve Bash

by charrrmed



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Public Blow Jobs, Sex Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:55:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 38,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charrrmed/pseuds/charrrmed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU season 3. Jeremy and Tyler have broken new ground since Bonnie broke up with him and he and Caroline ended their affair; Jeremy's still in love with Bonnie and she's still hung up on him; Tyler's curious about the energy he and Bonnie have in common and wonders what it would be like if she were the one to stay with him through one night of the full moon; Bonnie saw the hickey on Jeremy's neck when he and Tyler came back from Miami and then left her own mark on Jeremy after a magic session at the witches' house, this after she stopped herself from confessing what happened between her and Tyler after she saved him from Stefan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Are Cordially Invited

**Author's Note:**

> I started working on this story during the season 3 winter break, hence the title. I've picked it up and put it down a couple of times since, but I'm determined to complete it this time. Posting should help, since it's turned into a chapter fic, different from when I first thought of it.
> 
> This is my first time writing m/m, so please let me know if there's anything I need to do or stop doing in terms of how I present them if you're used to reading m/m. It'll help a lot :). So far I'm just going with "This is Tyler. This is Jeremy. Now let me write them being super close."

_You are cordially invited to my humble abode to celebrate the passing of 2011 and the entrance of 2012._

"Dress code is semi-formal. We will pay respect to our losses and toast to our victories. You're invited to a night of conversation and feasting as we cross into the new year," Caroline read off her invitation and then threw it on the table cluttered with sweating glasses of diet-coke, coke, and water.

"The  _passing_  of 2012.  _Pay respect_  to our losses." Bonnie thought of Jenna and Jules and even Elena herself, those who had fallen by Klaus' hand as well as those who had gotten caught in the crossfire, like Alaric. "What an asshole."

"So this guy breaks his curse and disappears for months and shows back up in time to ring in the new year? Why?" Elena asked.

"Going by the invitation? To gloat," Bonnie said.

"Look at the address," Caroline pointed out. "It's that new mansion they just finished building."

Elena closed her eyes, "God you don't think he's moving in, do you?" It was  _not_  good that she'd gotten an invitation. She'd spent a good part of the day trying and failing to calm her uncle John down. In the end he'd reluctantly agreed that she should go, unwilling to let her get lost in a mansion headed by an Original vampire but not knowing what else to do. Elena had done her best to impress upon him that being in Bonnie's presence guaranteed her safety.

"I wonder if Elijah's gonna be there," Bonnie voiced, mostly talking to herself. She would  _love_ to kill him. She'd rather take him out now and leave Klaus for later. But time had long since run out regarding her possession of the 100 witches' powers. She'd borrowed them in order to accomplish one thing and, in hindsight, she'd thrown her chance away. The powers had left her almost as soon as Elijah had run out of the forest clearing with Klaus. She hadn't even gotten a second chance, and she'd been entirely too pissed off and had too much pride to go telling the witches that she  _really_  meant it this time: she really  _would_  kill Klaus if they lent her their powers _just_   _one more time_. She grimaced just thinking about it.

She  _had_  gotten to flex her normal powers after Damon died from Tyler's bite. Stefan had flipped his lid and lost his marbles. At first he'd tried to be understanding; the words came out of his mouth, "It was a mistake; it's not your fault, Tyler," but Bonnie could tell that he was boiling underneath. It hadn't taken long for Stefan to remember Damon's dislike of Tyler as well as the fact that he'd killed both the teen boy's father and his uncle. Perhaps Tyler had secretly had it out for Damon but had been too much of a coward, in Stefan's opinion, to do anything about it until that night when he had Damon right where, and how, he wanted him: trying to help him and Caroline and completely distracted. Perhaps Tyler biting Damon hadn't been an accident after all.

And it hadn't been long before it came back to Bonnie through Caroline and Matt separately that Tyler felt like he was being watched. Then it stopped. Then it got back to Bonnie that Carol Lockwood felt like she was being watched. Then it stopped. Bonnie's thoughts had immediately gone to Stefan, though she hadn't shared that thought with anyone. As far as she'd been told by Elena Stefan was in the boarding house being a recluse, and it was a chore to try to get him out into the sunlight the few times she managed to sneak over there unbeknownst to John Gilbert. But he'd been Bonnie's first, prime, and only suspect.

She remembered what she'd felt when she'd first touched Stefan. The unparalleled violence and sadism. He'd told her once that he thought maybe it would be easier with her. She hadn't asked him to explain, and he hadn't elaborated, but she'd eventually figured that maybe he'd liked the fact that she'd seen right through his outerwear and into his past, that he didn't have to say anything out loud where she was concerned.

That was the only reason she'd attempted to talk to him about Damon's death. He'd given her a perfectly crafted answer. "I'm a vampire, Bonnie. I've watched my father die, his other descendants die, everyone I grew up with in this town; I've  _killed._  I know death."

A chill had run through her at his admission.  _I've killed._  She'd known that. She'd felt it. But to hear him say it, to see the look in his eyes as if he was talking about a hobby...the Stefan she'd gotten to know, at least a little bit, was uncomfortable with killing. The one she'd spoken to that day had looked anything but.

This had spurred her to tell Tyler of her suspicion, but she'd asked him to keep quiet about it, to act like nothing had changed, keep looking around when he suspects that someone is watching him.

And then....

* * *

"So this is basically going to be a night of this guy patting himself on the back, celebrating that he's still alive, rubbing it in our faces," Jeremy drawled while sitting uncomfortably upright in his living room with Tyler and trying to ignore the hot stinging all over his back. "Did you get an invite?"

"I did, but I'm really not into going. We've guessed that this guy is the one going around fucking up werewolves, and now he's inviting me to dinner? To  _dinner_? I'm probably one of the menu items. Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"You look...tense."

"I'm fine. You're not going there alone; Elena got an invite-"

"I'm so protected."

" _And so did Bonnie._ "

Tyler grinned. A couple of seconds passed and then he narrowed his eyes. "You smell kind of different."

Jeremy ignored the observation. "Besides, I'm getting pretty good with a stake and crossbow."

"Yeah? Ready to take on  _the_ Original vampire?"

"Nope."

Tyler wanted to mention the fact that Jeremy was sitting forward on the couch instead of leaning back on it like he usually did, but it was obvious the nascent hunter was trying to avoid some topic. It could be one of two things: life with his uncle John or, "Seen Bonnie lately?"

"Yeah. Same place I see you: school."

"Well you also see me at my house, your house, the locker room-"

" _Shhh!"_  Jeremy hissed. Lowering his voice, he said, "My uncle's sleeping upstairs."

Tyler grinned, unafraid, "What's wrong with two dudes who workout being in the same locker room?"

Jeremy bit his smile and shook his head at Tyler's attempt at being obtuse.

"Been to Bonnie's house lately?" Tyler returned to the topic. It wasn't unusual for them to talk about Bonnie. Or Caroline. But mostly Bonnie, because he was moving on pretty smoothly after his and Caroline's attempt at having a legit relationship. They were both too alike and too different. But Jeremy was still hung up on Bonnie, still felt like an idiot for cheating on her and still regretted how that whole thing had ended. As a matter of fact, one of the things that had helped build their friendship over the last four months was Jeremy feeling comfortable venting out loud about the desiccation of his relationship with Bonnie. Then Tyler had gotten comfortable teasing him about still being hung up on her, that is when he wasn't offering sincere words of comfort after he'd helped Jeremy realize why he'd done what he'd done.

Jeremy and Bonnie still ran into each other, still exchanged words, because Mystic Falls was still a hub for vampire activity. So Tyler would give Jeremy sly looks and raised eyebrows and make comments, "Did you hear how her voice changed when she started talking to you?" because Jeremy didn't do much to hide his awe of Bonnie when she outlined her part of a plan, or, "You do realize she's putting a little something extra in that walk, right? Look," and they'd actually stood there in the hallway, their eyes trained on Bonnie's retreating form.

Jeremy usually told him to shut up, or he rolled his eyes. And then...well. Last week his teasing of Jeremy had morphed into a type of flirting after Jeremy had mumbled that he was physically reeling from his recent interaction with Bonnie. He'd enticed Jeremy with descriptions of how differently his run-in with Bonnie could've turned out while he gave him a two-hands hand job next to the decrepit bathrooms by the track field.

That was the first time they'd brought Bonnie up  _while_  messing around, and their tryst had started in the middle of November after Jeremy had insisted on accompanying him on his fact-finding trip to Miami.

Tyler had been prickly and snappy the whole trip. He'd hoped to get  _away_  from Jeremy for a couple of days, but now he had to deal with sleeping in the same room with the other boy, with smelling him, and with picturing him in the shower.

He couldn't help the thoughts, and they flared up most insistently when the full moon got closer. That was when he felt hotter, when he had less control over his emotions as well as his body's reactions. As well as his thoughts, his desires. So he'd stopped fighting them. But keeping away from Jeremy when the full moon was close was one way he dealt with his emotions. It wasn't hard. His personality and temper mixed with the effects of the approaching moon made for foul interactions with him. Jeremy usually got fed up with it, so avoiding him was easy. Matt kept him company, outside of the cellar, during his transformations. It was a foolish arrangement, but Tyler was just glad to have someone taking the risk to be there.

He'd told Matt about his plan to go to Miami and the latter had brought up the full moon, questioning if it wouldn't be better to go  _after_. But Tyler had reassured him that he was bringing his spare chains and that he knew where Jules used to go to shift. He would go there. So Matt had reluctantly let it go. Jeremy hadn't, though his primary motivation for going with Tyler wasn't to be with him during the full moon but to be there  _for_ him period. There was an Original maniac hunting down werewolves for reasons they didn't understand. He wasn't going to stand for Tyler to journey to another state all by himself.

Tyler had been touched. And irked, because he couldn't very well  _show_  Jeremy how touched he was could he? So Jeremy was basically adding on to his frustration with no intention of helping him release it.

Tyler's hormones had been frustratingly out of whack ever since he'd triggered The Curse and he hadn't had anyone to focus them on since things with Caroline ended. Hooking up with some random girl at school was too dangerous. And then he'd noticed Jeremy,  _really_  noticed him. And he'd  _really_  noticed him before, back when they were regularly in each other's faces over Vicky Donovan, but he'd scoffed at the idea back then, quickly changed the course of his thoughts before they could settle comfortably in  _that_  direction, chastised his groin and valiantly disconnected his mind from it before it could react to Jeremy's proximity and tone of voice and entire grunge thing.

But now as a werewolf, as a werewolf who was no longer with Caroline and was spending more time with Jeremy and his different tones and his whole non-grunge-but still kind of messed up-getting better with an arrow-hunter thing, well...he was  _really_  noticing him again.

And his hormones shifted in Jeremy's case, became a different kind of particular, different from Caroline-flavor particular. With Caroline he'd been horny, and she'd ridden him, and he'd driven their interactions, too, preferably  _before_  his transition, when everything was building up and crowding. She took care of him after the transitions, when he was shaking, broken, tired, and scared that he'd be doing this for the rest of his life, scared that he didn't have his father around to explain, didn't even have Mason or Jules and couldn't imagine that his mother knew anything helpful with how plainly she looked at him, like she saw nothing below the surface, nothing below his mortal appearance. That was how the dice had fallen in his case with Caroline.

In Jeremy's case, his fantasies had consisted of the hunter putting those hands that were getting good with a crossbow on his dick  _before_  his transition. After the transition, he was restless with the need to rough Jeremy up, to unwind from having his bones distort and fracture by fisting Jeremy's dick, kissing him until the latter gasped for breath, suck on his neck until it was a pinky-red all over, and bite his shoulder hard enough that he himself spilled in his pants. With Jeremy, he wanted to be in control after the transition.

And on their way back from Miami, that's exactly what happened.

The tension had started to break two days before they were set to leave, when his transition for the month of November was behind them. Jeremy had, of course, gotten fed up with his attitude and snapped back at him.

* * *

_Two months ago, Miami_

"What is your problem?!"

Tyler lay across the bed, his feet planted on the floor, his arms crossed over his eyes.

"I can't do this," he muttered, though it was loud enough for Jeremy to hear.

Jeremy softened. "Ty." He closed the distance between them and sat next to him. He gingerly touched one of Tyler's forearms, and the other hissed in a breath and sprang to his feet.

"I don't even know why I care," he said to mask how sensitive his skin currently was and how deeply he'd felt Jeremy's touch. "I don't know these people, these random werewolves. It's not me Klaus is after. He hasn't set foot in Mystic Falls in months. So what the hell am I looking for? Why am I on his trail? Why am I drawing attention to myself?"

"Maybe because Mason would've done the same thing? Or your dad?"

Tyler scoffed at the suggestion. "Mason hid away in Florida until he needed to steal the family heirloom from me. My dad kept the truth from me and left absolutely no instructions in the off chance he died before he could tell me anything. I doubt either would be running around valiantly trying to help anyone. They'd be doing what I should be doing. Staying out of it."

"You hang out with a bunch people who don't stay out of it, Ty," Jeremy said with a small smile. "Caroline, Bonnie, me. I mean I'm training to get even more into this stuff. Elena's literally a magnet for it."

"I could do it. I could stay out."

Jeremy nodded. "And how would that feel?"

Tyler squeezed the palm of his hands against his eyes.

Jeremy stood and walked closer. He dipped his head so that he could see Tyler's eyes whenever the latter chose to take his hands away. "It isn't who you are. We're gonna get through this, okay? You're part of an endangered species, and I promise you you're not going to be the only one left when all of this is done. Klaus will not get through all of you."

"But how many of us will be left by the time we stop him?" Tyler asked as he lowered his hands. "How much will it take some other vampire, Original or not, to wipe us out by the time we stop him? Bonnie's not strong enough yet, and who knows when she will be, and who knows if she ever  _will_  be? So what am I doing here? I don't even have a plan; I don't even know what I'm looking for. I've spoken to all of two people from Jules' old crew. The rest are scattered, probably hiding, probably dead, I don't know! Because we have no communication! Because there aren't enough of us left to communicate!"

He closed his eyes to calm himself down and no sooner had he exhaled the deep breath he'd taken than he felt Jeremy's palm, feather light, on his cheek. Tyler opened his eyes, not registering it. "I don't even-"

Jeremy had stepped closer. He didn't know how he hadn't heard it. If not his footsteps, he should've heard his clothes rustling, sensed his body moving, something. But he was close, very close, and his hand was on his cheek, outright cupping it now, and his dark brown eyes were trained softly on his face, his bountiful lashes and eyebrows providing the perfect frame.

"Know how alone I am...right now," he finished softly.

"You're not," Jeremy said and swallowed thickly. "You're not alone."

Tyler's mouth hung open and his eyes fell to Jeremy's lips. In all his fantasizing, he'd never actually payed close attention to Jeremy's mouth. His lips were a nice, soft pink, his lower lip fuller than the top, and the top dipped nicely in the middle, right under his nose.

Jeremy stepped closer and lowered his head, and Tyler lifted his head in response, but then Jeremy stroke his cheek, and that served to jerk him back to reality, to where they were standing, to what they were risking, what he was risking, so he snapped his mouth close, took a step back to put an appropriate distance between them, and inhaled to steady himself. "I can't do this," he said again, and, like the first time, he was referring to everything he felt about Jeremy.

Tyler skirted around the bed he'd been lying on, his bed, and went into the bathroom.

"Tyler," he heard Jeremy call after him. "Shit," he heard him curse, and then he shut the door and tried not to hear anything else.

They didn't talk about what almost happened or why when Tyler came out of the bathroom. They didn't exchange a word. Nothing was said until they were in their respective beds and the light was off.

"You can do it," Jeremy said.

Tyler could tell from the way his voice bounced around the room that he was staring at the ceiling. Tyler closed his eyes and turned, giving Jeremy's bed his back.

They didn't talk to each other, didn't even acknowledge each other, for the rest of the trip. They left Miami two days later at the crack of dawn, and both were ready to drive twelve or so hours across three states, stopping here and there for rest and food, in absolute silence until Tyler turned his car off the road.

Jeremy pressed his forearm sharply against the door in an effort to steady his body even while his heart dropped to his stomach, so abrupt was Tyler's jerking of the wheel.

Tyler leaned his foot heavily on the gas, driving far out into the field. There were no trees around and no bushes, so if he stopped close enough to the road, some concerned samaritan might stop their own car to come see if they were alright.

"What are you doing?" Jeremy asked.

Tyler didn't answer until he shifted the gear into park and turned it off. He leaned back in his seat.

"Hello?" Jeremy asked, growing impatient. "We're supposed to be back in Mystic Falls before Tuesday."

"What do you mean I can do it?"

It wasn't hard for Jeremy to guess what he was talking about. After all, it was the reason they weren't talking. "You know what I mean," he said slowly.

"I don't have time for games," Tyler said testily.

"Right, because you're so forthcoming? You can't do this? What is  _this_? Tell me that, and I'll tell you what I meant by what I said." Finished, Jeremy looked out the windshield.

"We're friends," Tyler said.

Jeremy looked at him, "So?"

Wrong question.

"So?" Tyler echoed. "So you don't care? Vicky and I...well we were never really friends, but look at how it ended? More importantly, look at me and Caroline. At one point she was the only person I could talk to. Now we're back to normal, probably even worse now that she's no longer dating Matt."

"So you got close to someone and then things changed," Jeremy said, his voice a tell that he didn't see the big deal.

"And you don't care about that happening to us."

"I didn't realize we were that close," Jeremy said, half-joking.

Tyler was through with the conversation and turned the car on.

Jeremy reached over and cut it off.

Tyler exhaled, ready to get angry. He would force it if he had to; he would throw a fit until Jeremy was too exasperated to have the conversation. He was as good at turning people off as he was at attracting a party crowd.

"I mean I didn't realize...that you thought we were close. That it meant anything to you. That you were worried about it. I feel the same way," he reassured him. "You've become a really good friend. Like a best friend," he said, still surprised about it, and he hoped Tyler didn't take offense, because the other boy knew their history as well as he did.

"And what happens to that if we start-" Tyler made a face and gestured with his hands.

"Kissing?" Jeremy asked, trying not to smile even though he was very amused.

Tyler dropped his head back on the headrest and turned his neck to give Jeremy a long look.

Jeremy caught a clue, and he let his smile go free. "Fucking?"

Hearing him say it was what made the conversation feel surreal. He and Jeremy Gilbert were talking about kissing and fucking.

Jeremy licked his lips and briefly looked out the windshield before looking at Tyler. "I didn't realize you were that far along."

"Yeah, well." Tyler gazed out the window. He could see cows roaming far, far to his left, where the properties restarted. They were moving dots, but he knew they were cows.

Jeremy looked at his lap. "You feel weird about it?" Although he'd calmed down some in recent months, Tyler still had that whole jock thing going. He was still one of the people in the school who had a reputation.

"No," Tyler answered, and Jeremy's body warmed with relief. "Not really." He wanted to tell Jeremy this wasn't the first time he'd felt something for him, but he decided it was too soon. "You?"

"Nah," Jeremy said. "I mean I've never felt something like this before-well, not towards anyone else. I did kind of feel something earlier this year when we had to work all those days on the float for Founder's day. Remember?"

"I remember," Tyler said. He'd tried and succeeded at not swiveling his head in Jeremy's direction at the latter's admission. So it hadn't been just him. Not for the first time, he admired Jeremy's straightforwardness. Here he was wanting to hide how far back his infatuation with Jeremy went.

"And I did think it was a thing that passed, and then...and then it didn't. And then you were cool and kind of had a personality."

Tyler smiled. "And it turned out the dark cloud over your head wasn't imperative to your survival," he retorted, and Jeremy chuckled.

"So what do we do?" Jeremy asked.

Tyler's chest expanded.

"Nothing's gonna happen to our friendship. Not because of this. Are we, like, trying to have a relationship?"

"You just got out of one," Tyler said, frowning like it should be obvious. "And no, I don't think so. I don't really know; I haven't thought that far."

"How far did you think?"

Tyler's chest expanded again. Now that they were talking about it, he admitted one thing: their friendship would most likely be okay. Jeremy was straightforward. Probably nothing they did had a chance at changing how he related to him, least of all anything sexual.

They weren't going to get back on the road until-

Tyler unbuckled his seat belt and then undid Jeremy's, and he did it so fast, no superpowers needed, that Jeremy didn't see what was happening until Tyler leaned over and grabbed the back of his head. He readied himself just in time to receive Tyler's kiss.

They lost track of time on that field, made out until Jeremy got thirsty, and they pushed past that point still. They didn't stop until Jeremy breathlessly pointed out that someone could have reported sighting their car and they could be visited by some highway patrolman.

So they stopped and Tyler restarted the car, muttering about how abandoned cars with dead bodies in them took longer to get reported. Still, they crossed the state line into Georgia with Jeremy's neck marked by a wide and obvious hickey from Tyler's insistent mouth.

They stopped in South Carolina to make out, this time in the backseat, this time both with a bottle of water. Thirty minutes into this one and Jeremy pulled at Tyler's shirt and slipped his hand underneath. Tyler's stomach quivered at the feel of Jeremy's hand. It was warm and soft, and it was rubbing.

Tyler shifted to open his legs wider, aware of his erection. His hands were in Jeremy's hair, though there wasn't much of it since he'd cut it close to his scalp towards the end of the summer. That had been the rebirth of him noticing him.

Jeremy's hand traveled higher, and Tyler couldn't deal with the teasing. He'd had enough, from his fantasies and from Jeremy...being himself...and now all this kissing. He took Jeremy's hand and shoved it down and made him cup his erection.

Jeremy's chuckle ended the kiss.

"Shut up," Tyler said and kissed him again before he took off Jeremy's shirt. Running his hand down his chest, he asked, "How far are you willing to take this?"

"We did say fucking," Jeremy answered.

Tyler grinned and kissed him again. Then he was a little too aware of himself, a little self-conscious as he unbuckled his own belt, unbuttoned his pants and unzipped, his eyes never leaning Jeremy's. He sat back when he was done, his heart wanting to pound right out of his chest.

Jeremy's gaze slid from Tyler's face down to the promise in his pants. He'd felt the bulk of it, the sturdiness. He reached inside and held his breath. He hit the barrier of Tyler's briefs and wiggled his fingers past the waist band. He felt his pubic hair and then he felt dick.

It was strange, touching one that wasn't his own, but the strangeness didn't last, because he focused on Tyler. This was Tyler; he was holding Tyler's dick, and it was hard, hard for him, hard because of him, and it was thick. His brain didn't register that it wasn't as thick as his but close. He only registered that it was thick and it felt good in his hand, full.

He pulled it out. It was dark, darker than Tyler's face, which surprised him. But then he figured it made sense. He and Tyler worked out together sometimes, and he'd noticed that Tyler's legs and some patches of skin on his abdomen are also a little darker than his face. His dick was a third different shade from those parts of his body, a light sable brown.

The hardness felt good in his hands and encouraged his own erection. He shifted in the seat, moving his butt as close to the door as possible, and then he reached back to open the door and scooted further, and then he grabbed Tyler's dick and bent down.

"That's not what I-" Tyler exclaimed, panicking.

Jeremy stopped, his skin prickling in trepidation, but he surprised himself by not letting it show in his body language. "This isn't what you wanted?"

Tyler swallowed thickly. His heart was working over time. "I just mean," he was suddenly breathless from his nervousness. "This isn't what I meant. I don't want you-you don't have to. I don't want you to think you have to; this isn't what I meant." He looked away.

Jeremy relaxed now that he saw that his outburst had come from his uncertainty. He decided to tease him. "So then why did you do it?"

"Forget it," Tyler said, a muscle in his jaw ticking, and he reached for his dick to tuck it back in, expecting Jeremy to remove his hand.

"Ty," Jeremy stressed. "I'm just kidding."

Tyler still didn't look at him.

"Besides, I don't think you can put that back in your pants," he said, referring to his erection, and Tyler smiled despite himself. A laugh escaped him in a rush of air when Jeremy added, "It won't be easy."

Tyler finally looked at him.

"I want to," Jeremy assured him.

"Then do it," Tyler responded, as if it was a dare that Jeremy might not follow up on. He couldn't help himself. It was part flirting and part not wanting to open himself up and admit how much he wanted it, craved it.

Jeremy's eyes glinted, recognizing a challenge when it came from Tyler. His grip on Tyler's dick loosened just a little, and then he bent forward and took the tip in his mouth.

Tyler was nervous. He never looked away from Jeremy's bobbing head. He made as little noise as possible, though he shifted in his seat a lot, even lifting off the seat at two different points. He was careful not to touch Jeremy's head. Minutes ticked by, a quarter of an hour, and he didn't feel close to coming. Half an hour, crawling towards forty minutes...

Jeremy stopped and asked him if it was working, if he was feeling anything from what he was doing. Lasting power was one thing; he had lasting power. But that had come from practice. The first time he'd gotten a job, he'd come under fifteen minutes.

"Yeah," Tyler answered. His answer was quick, he nodded too much, and he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Jeremy's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine; I swear."

"Do you wanna stop?"

"No."

"Well...my jaw is starting to hurt and I think my thigh fell asleep." His back hurt, too.

"It's working, I swear," Tyler said. "But we can stop if you want," he added in a hurry.

Jeremy licked his lips. Tyler's skin tasted good; he felt perfect in his mouth. "Get out," he said.

Jeremy had to steady himself when he stepped out. Turns out both of his thighs had fallen asleep, and his back was in desperate need of a stretch. He relieved his back once he was steady on his feet.

Tyler held his pants up and chanted in his head, relax, relax, relax. He'd had no idea that crippling nervousness could block an orgasm. In his fantasies, he always came on time.

It was late afternoon, still light out. They could definitely be spotted out here, but he was following Jeremy's lead. He needed to relax.

Jeremy walked to the front of the car and waited for Tyler. When he got close enough, he pulled him in for a deep kiss. Both were dazed at the end of it. "Touch me if you want to," Jeremy said and kneeled.

For some reason, Tyler felt better now that he was outside. He hadn't realized he'd felt enclosed inside the car until he lifted his face toward the sky. He wasn't claustrophobic, but he'd definitely felt cramped in there once Jeremy had accepted his challenge.

Jeremy palmed his cock, and Tyler's heart actually stayed calm. Well...calm in comparison to before. He was still nervous, but this was a good nervous, an excited nervous. He half sat on the car and watched Jeremy take him in his mouth.

Despite being an artist, Tyler wasn't a visual person. He liked to touch things, liked to feel things. That didn't mean he couldn't appreciate beauty, whether it be art or someone's ass, but the feel of Jeremy's mouth on his cock registered in his mind before the look of him on his knees. And his mouth felt great: the sensitivity of his skin extended to the skin on his penis, which he knew from the many times it would rub against his briefs. It was very nice to finally have hot, wet mouth surrounding his dick, rather than fabric.

He didn't compare Jeremy's blow job to the ones he'd gotten in the past. He knew Jeremy had never done this before. The novelty of the experience annihilated any comparisons he would've otherwise made.

Jeremy sucked him slower than before, probably to alleviate the pain in his jaw. He took him in slowly and released him slowly, and he frequently sucked his tip, a detail that Tyler loved a lot. He loved the feel of Jeremy's lips on the head of his cock.

He awkwardly put his hand on Jeremy's head in order to delay the inevitable. He did want to touch him, did want to feel his head going in as he swallowed his cock and then pushing against his hand as he released most of his length. But he even had to get used to that, because when he first settled his hand on Jeremy's head it looked like he was stopping him: his hand just rested on top of Jeremy's head. To help himself relax into it, he moved his hand to the back of Jeremy's head and stroke his hair.

This spurred Jeremy to go a little faster, and Tyler let out a low curse. It was beginning to feel good; he felt his balls hang a little heavier.

He opened his legs a little wider. Jeremy walked the short distance on his knees and rested one of his hands on Tyler's thigh. He'd found a good rhythm on Tyler's cock. It was wet with his saliva. This wasn't a technique on his part: his glands literally watered at the feel of Tyler's dick in his mouth.

"I like that," Tyler forced himself to say when Jeremy once again sucked the head of his dick.

Jeremy listened, staying on the head and feeling Tyler lightly fist his hair before relaxing his hand and flexing it against his scalp. Jeremy licked the length of his dick. There wasn't an inch of skin that went untouched by his tongue. He licked the area on the underside of the head and swirled the tip of his tongue right on the tip of Tyler's dick. This earned him an inhale through clenched teeth from Tyler, and he savored the reaction. He didn't know he'd be this good outside of his daydreams, though he knew chances were likely he could do better. Still, he leaned 100% on sucking dick the same way he ate pussy: with fervor, complete attention, and awareness of the person's responses. Aside from the first time he ate Vicky out, he hasn't had any disappointments from those to whom he's given cunnilingus, so without any experience of giving fellatio, he decided to rely on the same drive that had helped him become very good at cunnilingus.

In doing this, he discovered something that Tyler liked: very wet attention on the head of his dick. And that was how he made him come.

Jeremy still sucked the length of Tyler's dick, but he spent more and more time sucking the head. Tyler's breathing grew labored, and he looked down at Jeremy's bobbing head. He felt his balls grow heavier as combined feel and image of his wet dick sliding out and then disappearing in Jeremy's mouth seared itself on his brain.

"Fuck," he breathed and placed his left hand beside him on the hood. Using his hand for balance, he raised his hips, because he wanted more of his dick in Jeremy's mouth. The more Jeremy sucked the better he got, the better it felt.

Feeling slipped from the fingers forming a fist on Jeremy's head and the blood in his toes did weird things as his orgasm came closer. He felt the air around him warm considerably and when he blinked the day was painted yellow-gold. He looked at Jeremy and saw, and sniffed and felt, the heat coming off his body, made hotter by the heat he himself was emitting. Jeremy's heat wrapped around his nostrils, making his lips slack in desire, and he tilted his head back, nostrils flaring.

"Yeah," he whispered hoarsely, the word barely audible. His muscles tightened, and he felt his balls rise just slightly as he started spewing three months' worth of fantasies and frustration into Jeremy's mouth. His gaze was brought down to Jeremy when the latter made a sound, but he could barely see him. His orgasm had locked him in a haze. He tried to see but he was all about feeling at the moment: the heat from the hood of the car, Jeremy's heat, Jeremy's hair and head, the friction of Jeremy's lips slide, sliding against the taunt skin of his dick to suck the life out of him, his dick growing more sensitive yet craving more of Jeremy's lips.

He groaned, a broken and desperate sound, jerking his hips in Jeremy's face.

Jeremy swallowed his come, almost overwhelmed by how much of it there was. He couldn't catch it all, some dripping down his chin, some coating the top of his lip, some because he couldn't swallow fast enough and needed to take a breath before he opened his throat up for more.

Tyler grunted the last shudder, and it became the most erotic sound Jeremy had ever heard. He licked Tyler's penis clean while the other boy caught his breath, even getting the come that had rolled down to his balls.

Tyler thought maybe he'd keep going and actually lick his balls, realized he wanted that, but Jeremy just went back up the length of his penis. Spent, he lowered his hips back down on the hood.

"Jesus," he breathed.

Jeremy smiled and wrapped his fist around Tyler's dick and stroke up and let it go.

"Practiced, have you?"

Jeremy chuckled. " _That's_  what you say? Woah."

Tyler smiled, mostly because Jeremy was talking with come on his mouth. His smile faltered when he watched him thoroughly lick it off, even swiping his index finger over his lip to make sure he got everything.

"Ty, your eyes..." Jeremy pointed out, but Tyler was focused on something else now. There was something new in the air, something wavy and dense. He'd seen it before, the few times sleeping with Caroline had woken the Lycan in him. It was his supernatural energy. He'd emitted it while coming. It was more glorious when he was chained up and fighting off his transition and right after he transitioned. It danced in the air, livened it. He often focused on it in a desperate bid to calm the absolute panic he felt while transforming. He'd seen something like that only two other times and dreamed of seeing it again. The supernatural energy had outmatched the one he gave off. The first time he'd realized he wasn't the only one who gave off energy was the night of the sacrifice, when Bonnie's magic had rolled through the woods while he'd been running on all fours. He'd chased after the vampires, but a smaller, though not less noticeable, part of him had wanted to run towards the magic.

The second time he'd seen it had also been from Bonnie...

"I'm fine," he answered, distracted.

"Did you like it?" Jeremy decided to ask, since Tyler was focusing on something else.

Tyler looked down at him. He couldn't believe he was asking. Was he not listening to him before? Although...he himself had asked the question to girls. Well...a girl...once. And not even the first time he ate a girl out. But he usually felt like he did a good job, which probably wasn't a good reason not to ask, though he  _swore_  he did do a good job most of those times.

"Are you kidding? You did this," he said and blinked to emphasize his yellow eyes. They were a pale yellow now, fading as the seconds ticked by and he got farther away from the orgasm.

Jeremy wanted to hear the words. He always wanted to hear the words, wanted to know exactly how the person on the other side of his lips felt he'd done.

"It was amazing." Tyler smiled.

Jeremy licked his lips and returned the smile. "And that," he began, pointing up at Tyler's eyes as he stood up, "Happens all the time?"

"No, not all the time. The first time I had sex as a werewolf, and it happened two times after. When I was really horny and hard up."

"Hard up. Well that explains your attitude the past couple of days," Jeremy said as he swiped dirt off the knees of his pants.

Tyler ignored the truthful jab and stepped forward. He grabbed Jeremy's head and kissed him as soon as he looked up. He simultaneously couldn't identify the taste on Jeremy's tongue and knew what it was.

Jeremy's heart skidded and tripped, and Tyler felt like his chest was on fire.

"You're warm," Jeremy said gravelly when they parted, Tyler's palms still framing his face.

"I know."

His eyes were their usual dark brown now.

His palms started sweating as soon as he took them from Jeremy's face and slid them down to the belt of his pants. His eyes trailed his hands, partly out of nervousness. Jeremy had sucked him off, but was he ready for reciprocation?

He looked up and swallowed the question.

A small smile lit Jeremy's face and this time he framed Tyler's face and kissed him, slow and lasting.

Tyler undid his belt, buttons and zipper through the kiss and slid his pants and briefs down. He broke the kiss, and, with his own dick still hanging out, he dropped to his knees, craned his neck, and licked Jeremy's balls into his mouth.

The surprised rush of air Jeremy expelled would echo in his ears for the rest of the ride home.

* * *

_Present Day, Mystic Falls_

"I haven't been to Bonnie's house," Jeremy answered. He could swear the stinging in his back intensified, as if it was tied to whether he told the truth or not.

"So not her house, then," Tyler ventured. When Jeremy stayed stoic, too stoic, Tyler dropped his head. "Are you riding with me to this thing or you going with Elena?"

"I'll ride with you," Jeremy answered and grinned.

Tyler smiled and shook his head. He could pull the answer out of him later.


	2. The John Thing

Bonnie left Elena and Caroline inside the Grille. Two guys from student government had spotted Caroline and come over to bandy about ideas for a valentine's day dance once school came back, maybe something just for the seniors. Caroline had roped Elena into the conversation, but Bonnie had made her escape. Thanks to Elena she'd already helped organize prank night, the senior bonfire, and Homecoming, the last Elena's plan to keep her distracted from her heartbreak over Jeremy. Well...not all of it had been a chore. Homecoming night  _had_  provided a distraction from Jeremy, just not the type Elena had planned. Still, she was done helping with school events for the rest of the year. She only planned to attend.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone started buzzing. John Gilbert's name flashed on the display. She knew what he was calling about.

"Don't make any plans until right before you all head there tonight."

"Hi, John." She'd stopped calling him Mr. Gilbert about a month and a half before. She'd decided their partnership didn't call for formalities of that kind.

"Don't make any plans until tonight. I mean you should: all of you should come up with something. I'm going to talk to Elena and Jeremy when Elena gets back. But don't communicate about what you're going to do or what you might do or what you could do until just before you go to that house."

"Because Klaus might show up and compel it out of us, well.… them."

"Exactly. And hi."

"Did you just wake up? It's 11am."

"Yeah. I really wish we could've started working on the new device as soon as Klaus had left."

We? Bonnie tempered her annoyance. She and John were working on a new vampire device if "she and John were working on a new vampire device" means John asked to meet with her one day, said it would be for the good of the town if there was a new device to replace the one they'd used on Founder's Day, handed her his ancestor's journal that contained the outlines of the device, was told by Bonnie that she already had a better copy of the outline, and then John nodded. That's how she and John were working on a new vampire device. She was doing the same work Emily had done, or trying to, and he was coasting on the accomplishment of his great whatever grandfather.

Bonnie frowned. She should talk to him about their partnership.

Not that John did nothing. He and Jeremy brainstormed regularly about new devices they could invent. The problem was, unlike their ancestor, unlike  _Emily,_  neither of them had the mind of an inventor. John also trained Jeremy and Elena in vampire hunting. He took them out of town to known vampire hangouts for target practice, something that made Elena less comfortable than it did Jeremy.

He and Elena practiced in the woods. Jeremy used to practice with them, still did at times, but he spent more time practicing by himself now. Well...by himself while hanging out with Tyler.

As far as actual help with the device, Jeremy was doing more on that front nowadays than John. When he wasn't training and wasn't brainstorming new devices with John and wasn't in school, he got with her when she wasn't practicing her spell casting, spell writing, learning to channel energy into herself, or in school, and they worked on the device together.

* * *

_Vampire Device Design 101_

"I can't do this!" Bonnie exclaimed and with a huff stood to stretch her legs.

"You say that every week," Jeremy said, amusement in his eyes as he looked at her.

"And you say it every other week. I mean I'm impressed by Emily being an amateur scientist, and a better one than Jonathan Gilbert-"

"This doesn't seem so amateur," Jeremy said as he frowned at the pieces that were laid out on the table before them. John had searched for, found, and ordered them while Bonnie had been vacationing in Georgia with her father over the summer. He'd even started working on it with Bonnie after she came back, until one day when he casually mentioned it to Jeremy a couple of days,  _a couple of days,_ after Bonnie broke up with him, and Jeremy lost it.

He'd just spent three months seeing an ex-girlfriend who'd been murdered by John's hand. He wasn't going to  _stand_  for John spending any time alone with Bonnie. Bonnie wasn't a vampire, but she was supernatural and after the way John had talked about Isobel all those months ago, Jeremy wasn't sure John cared to make distinctions between types of supernaturals.

But he'd tried to tell Jeremy otherwise, only Jeremy's ears had been ringing, the blood in his veins cold, and he'd been yelling so loud that he shocked Elena out of her sleep. She'd come speeding down the stairs, almost falling down the last two steps because she'd thought Jeremy was physically fighting John.

She'd tried to calm him down, reassure him that John wasn't stupid enough to do that to him twice, but Jeremy had bit back a comment about her judgment in people, especially with Damon Salvatore killing him and then Stefan trying to kill Tyler. And that had been the end of the yelling. Jeremy had winced internally and apologized to her. He'd then turned a hard stare on John, sworn he wouldn't be in Bonnie's company for long, that he could take his place, and walked up to his room.

Selling Bonnie on the idea the next day at school had been another thing.

* * *

_Prerequisite for Vampire Device Design 101_

"Uh, no. No thanks," Bonnie responded, a frown on her face. The last thing she needed nowadays was Jeremy Gilbert coming to her locker to talk to her.

"He's dangerous, Bonnie," Jeremy stressed.

"He might be-"

"He  _killed_ Anna." Jeremy didn't care that using her as an example might not be the smartest thing right now. "Set her up and killed her."

"I think I can handle myself better than she could."

"She was a four-hundred something year-old vampire-"

"And I'm what, a weakling?"

"Compared to her? Maybe? Maybe not. That's my point: we don't know. And Anna isn't who you should be comparing yourself to, it's John. I've known him my whole life and am only  _now_ finding out who he  _really_ is, which means you don't know him at all. I can work with you on the device instead."

"I already said no."

"Fine," Jeremy said, the onslaught of his irritation making him breathless. "Then I'll just be there."

"I don't want you there at all," Bonnie retorted, almost raising her voice in the crowded hallway. "I can look out for myself; I can take care of myself. Thanks for the warning-"

"He'll use you, get what he wants, and then stab you in the back!"

"And what are you gonna do if he does? What can you possibly do if you're there, Jeremy?!"

Almost everyone walking past to go to lunch slowed down to pretend they weren't looking at them.

Neither noticed, because Bonnie was wishing she hadn't said the last part and Jeremy was recovering from the punch to the gut that were her words.

"Fine," he said tightly, a burden of emotions in his voice.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have-"

"I won't be inside with you guys. I won't work with you. But I  _will_  be there. I don't trust him. I don't know what I can do if he does something to you, Bonnie-"

Bonnie closed her eyes against the strained hurt on his face, the hurt she'd put there because of her own broken heart.

"But maybe with me there, right outside, he'll at the  _very least_  think twice."

"Jer-" Bonnie began when he moved past her to head outside to eat his lunch, but she didn't finish, because he held up a dismissive hand as he walked away from her.

She didn't waste any time. She gave him space that lasted the rest of the school. Then ran after him in the parking lot after the final bell rang.

"Jeremy!"

He quickly looked away when he saw it was her. He was still upset about earlier, on top of the John thing.

"Hey," she said when she reached him. "I wanted to talk to you."

Jeremy adjusted the strap that was slung over his shoulder. He knew an apology was coming, and he didn't want it. Not because he was mad at her, although he supposed it was  _nice_  that she could so easily point out his shortcomings, but because there was truth to what she'd said. Not only was John more skillful than him but he was his uncle, family, someone who'd been in his life since he was a baby. What would he do to him if he hurt Bonnie? What would he have the guts to do?

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"Forget it."

"No. After what happened with Jenna...after what I  _did_ , keeping you out of it...I shouldn't have said that. I had no right. And it's not something I really think. I just said it to...to..."

"Hurt me?"

Bonnie swallowed and looked away.

Jeremy wanted more than anything to cup her face and bring her green eyes back to his face.

"I know you're just looking out for me."

"Bonnie," he began softly, and Bonnie couldn't handle the warmth in his eyes. "About what happened-"

"I'm taking you up on the offer."

Jeremy raised his eyebrows.

"We can work on the device together. I mean you know as much as Mr. Gilbert does anyway."

A small smile graced Jeremy's lips and he nodded.

"Okay," she said to finalize it. She was partnering up with the boy who'd broken her heart and ruined her trust just because she couldn't reign in her desire to lash out at him earlier.

Jeremy wanted to ask her to grab something to eat with him so they could talk, about anything, anything she wanted. He just wanted to hear her talk to him.

"And this is just about the device. Completely about the device," Bonnie said, unable to stop herself from nodding, because it looked to her like Jeremy wanted to say something else, something to do with a certain perpetually teenage Asian vampire and the end of their relationship. She still wasn't ready for him to say anything about it, because after what Elena had told her he'd told  _her_ , he could very well want to make her "understand" and "let her down easy." And at this stage she wasn't sure what she was liable to do if what came out of Jeremy's mouth, should she give him a chance to talk, was reaffirmation of his love for Anna.

"Only the device," she emphasized again.

Jeremy nodded and tucked away what he wanted. He was already pushing it by insisting he be in her space after he'd lied to her for three months and then cheated on her.

Bonnie matched his nod and gave him a tentative smile, and then she headed off in the direction of her car.

Jeremy watched her go.

When he got home that night, he threatened John. He didn't yell like the day before, wasn't hot from the heady mix of anger and fear. He calmly told John that if he hurt Bonnie in any way, he would go for his jugular.

* * *

_Vampire Device Design 101_

"I don't understand why she didn't just  _spell_ the device into existence," Bonnie said. "I feel like that, I could do."

"Hey, maybe there's something to that."

"What?" Bonnie asked, thinking he'd made a breakthrough.

"A spell. This is a Grimoire, right? Emily's Grimoire, and we know she was so powerful that Katherine Pierce relied on her, so powerful that she created the tomb spell and did it by herself, so powerful that she made  _this._ What if there's a spell on the images we're seeing, on the instructions we're reading? What if that spell distorts our perception, makes it so it's hard for us to understand what we're reading and seeing? I mean...what better way to make sure no other witch could make a counter to your weapons if they ever stole your book?"

"But the instructions are also written out in one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals," Bonnie pointed out, using her chin to indicate the journal lying open by Jeremy's left elbow.

"Instructions that he copied from Emily's 'surprisingly well-written' journal," Jeremy said, using air quotes when he repeated his ancestor's words. "And he wrote a couple pages later that he wanted to recreate it, make it himself, wanted to make backups kind of, and he couldn't. And I guess he was too proud to ask Emily to show him."

"Mmm, I think you're right. Only what do I do about it? I've never been under a spell before, I don't even know what signs to look for. I feel fine. Just very frustrated and like I'm going nowhere."

"I feel the same way. Maybe we can ask Emily," Jeremy suggested.

"Uh. I think I've asked Emily for enough favors," she said quietly.

Jeremy knew exactly what she was referring to and just like that the mood shifted and the lightheartedness disappeared. "Right," Jeremy said and looked at the books and bolts in front of him. His mind wasn't on the device, though.

Bonnie exhaled. "Okay, I'm ready again," she said and reclaimed her seat next to Jeremy.

* * *

_Present Day, Mystic Falls_

John wasn't a complete boogeyman anymore, not in Jeremy's eyes and not in hers. He'd even tried to comfort her a week and a half into her partnership with Jeremy. He'd reassured her that Jeremy really cared about her, that she was important to him. The problem was that he'd never seen her and Jeremy together and had only recently started talking to Bonnie, and their talks were about vampires. His words rang hollow and she'd more or less told him that. John had simply nodded, not bothering to shed light on Jeremy's threat to his life should he hurt her.

"You're not thinking about showing up tonight, are you?"

"As a matter of fact, I was. The element of surprise has worked for me before."

"Is that the same element that got you thrown over a balcony by Damon Salvatore?"

"The same one that led to me taking out two centuries old vampires at the same time."

Not for the first time, Bonnie wanted to ask him exactly how long he'd been at the vampire-killing game.

"What do you hope to do once you're there? I don't think you should go. I think the best element of surprise is for you to not be on Klaus' radar."

"I know how these vampires are, the way they think, especially the older ones: grandstanding is everything to most of them. Everything about what Klaus is doing right now? Is grandstanding. I wouldn't go there to fight. Unless he started one."

"You think you can take on-" Bonnie decided not to comment on his insinuation. " _I_ don't think you should go."

"Very well noted, Bonnie."

Bonnie knew that was the end of the conversation and that he was 50/50 on listening to her and not listening to her. So she said, "I'll keep in mind what you said," and they hung up.

Bonnie pushed the top of her phone against her chin and began to think of different escape plans should things go dangerously south at the party, but she was quickly interrupted.

"Bonnie! Hey, Bonnie!"

Bonnie looked to her left and put a face to the voice. Not Now Dana, she'd been nicknamed by Tyler and Matt due to her pension for wanting to talk at the wrong time. Like now. She was another member of student government, and she was a volunteer extraordinaire. She had about 1500 volunteer hours according to the Mystic Falls High rumor mill.

"Hey," Bonnie greeted.

"Hey," Dana answered, out of breath.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much," she shrugged. "Are you excited about tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"The party."

"What party?"

Dana breathed out a laugh as if Bonnie was just oh so silly, and Bonnie frowned.

"The  _party_  at that new mansion."

Bonnie's smile dropped. "Excu—"

"I got a personal invite," Dana shared, and she all but winked.

Bonnie's heart seized in her chest. She instinctively stepped closer to Dana in case….in case  _something_. Her hand tightened on her phone, a mechanism to keep her from looking around wildly.

"From  _who_?"

"Some blonde woman."

That threw Bonnie for a loop. A blonde woman?

"Is….is she still here?"

Dana shook her head.

"What's her name?" Bonnie asked. Dana hadn't stopped smiling since she came up to Bonnie.

Dana shook her head, her signature ponytail swinging, "I don't know. She offered me 50 bucks per hour to waitress at the party."

Offered? Was Dana not compelled? Was it like her to serve food at a complete stranger's house for money? Had the blonde woman who'd spoken to Dana been compelled?

"Who else is invited?" Bonnie asked.

"Just you."

Bonnie was beginning to find her smile creepy. "I mean who else will be waitressing."

"I don't know."

And for the first time Dana's smile slipped and she looked confused. Then the smile snapped back into place.

"I just wanted to tell you. See ya."

"Yeah," Bonnie said as she watched her retreat. "Right." More like  _Klaus_  wanted to tell her.

Bonnie watched Dana get into her car and drive off. A new wave of fear for Dana's safety washed over her when she remembered Elena's account of her biological mother compelling a man to kill himself after he delivered her message. Dana had just delivered Klaus' message. Maybe Dana would be fine up until tonight, but Bonnie already screwed up once where Klaus was concerned. She wasn't going to do it again. If something happened to Dana before the party, if Klaus changed his mind and decided he didn't need her to waitress at the party anymore…

Bonnie spun and pulled out her keys and unlocked the car. She didn't bother pulling on her seatbelt. She could do that while driving. She ignited the car and dialed John.

"We have a new problem."


	3. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Helpful tip: none of it occurs in the present, and it contains flashbacks within flashbacks. All of them are labeled (and even dated to help with the timeline :)).

_Homecoming_

Bonnie wanted to dance as soon as she stepped past the Lockwoods' threshold. Mystic Falls High's homecomings were notoriously  _bad_. The music always sucked, because the dj always sucked. Some thought the school was cursed in that regard. But some had been confident that Caroline Forbes would be able to break the curse. Caroline's events always went off without a hitch. There were even bets on it.

A lot of money traded hands tonight, because the dj was an hour and a half late, and then it took him thirty minutes to set up, and half the music was plain gone from his set. Caroline had died inside; Bonnie had died for her, and Elena had steered everyone  _away_  from Caroline's direction lest they get caught up in her fury.

It had taken everything to drag Caroline to Tyler's after party.

" _He bet against me, Bonnie! He bet homecoming would suck!_ "

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said while looking at the milling bodies. Already Tyler's party was going better than homecoming. "But being here will be good for you. That's what Elena told me about going to homecoming."

"Okay, so homecoming was a bust," Elena said to Bonnie. "But we knew it would b—-I mean."

"I'm out of here," Caroline declared and spun for the door.

"Caroline, wait!" Elena ran after her.

Bonnie turned to look at them. "I'm just not in the mood," she heard Caroline say before her voice faded into the crowd.

Bonnie faced forward again. She really did feel bad for Caroline. Who wants their party to be a failure? But her feet were not moving in Caroline's direction. Instead she was looking for Tyler.

She walked to the beat of the music and headed to the kitchen. Tyler was always in the kitchen restocking when he was hosting a party in his house.

Bonnie leaned her weight on the counter and said, "Hey!"

He looked up from bag of ice he'd gotten out of the freezer, "Bennett!"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. Tyler always said her last name when he saw her at a party, as if it was a surprise that she actually showed up.

"Nice crowd," she said.

He lifted his eyebrows in agreement. All of the important rooms in the house were locked, and all of the valuable things were hidden in those locked rooms, so he wasn't worried about the number of people.

"I heard you bet against homecoming being a success," she said as she walked around the counter to stand at his side.

"It was a smart move," Tyler said with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Caroline doesn't care that it was."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "She shouldn't have gone against tradition."

Bonnie smiled.

"I'm surprised to see you here," he said as he looked at her sideways.

"'Cause I'm a hermit nowadays?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Elena thought it was time I got back on the social scene."

"If that's what you've got in your closet, then I think she's right," Tyler said as he openly admired her outfit.

This, too, was familiar. Tyler always flirted with her when she was feeling down, and it didn't matter what she was sad about: being reprimanded by her dad or grandmother, feeling like she failed a test, or frustration at the fact that she was doing more work on a project than the rest of the members in her group. It had all started sophomore year when her permit was still new and she'd backed into his car and dented the front. He'd been beyond pissed, because he wasn't suppose to have made the detour that he did with his mom's car. Bonnie had given him as good as he'd given her, if only for the principal of it. The next day he'd apologized for going off as hard as he had, and the apology had been rife with flirtation.

"Dance with me," she said.

Tyler raised his eyebrows.

"Come on, don't be chicken."

An incredulous smile bloomed on Tyler's face. "Chicken? Seriously?"

Bonnie tightened her mouth, though it was obvious she was smiling. She was coming on to Tyler Lockwood. Of course she wasn't going to leave herself open for complete rejection, and  _of course_  she assumed his immediate answer would be no. They haven't danced together since….the 7th grade End of Year dance? And that had been because she'd spotted Matt and had gone up to say hi to him. Back then Tyler had been all about grinding, almost like he was having sex on the dance floor. Bonnie had both liked it and been embarrassed for him. Until she'd seen him dance like that with another girl. At that point the embarrassment had been bulldozed over by jealousy, and she'd rolled her eyes and written him out of her mind.

"Yes or no?"

Tyler opened the cooler and ripped the bag open and dumped the ice on the cans of soda and bottled water. He closed the cooler and dropped the bag next to it.

His hand was cold and wet when he grabbed Bonnie's. "Let's go."

Bonnie's stomach quivered excitedly when Tyler spun her around in the middle of the foyer (it felt like they were smack dab in the middle of the crowd) and put his hand on her stomach with her back to him. She smiled when they smoothy started moving their hips in sync with the music and each other.

Bonnie relaxed into his body, into his lap, because he his knees were bent enough that it was like she was sitting in his lap. She wound her hips and ground her butt against his crotch. She slid her hand over the one that lay possessively on her stomach.

Tyler ran a hand down her arm, and her whole body came alive at his touch as if it had been desperately waiting for it. He laced their fingers when he got to her hand, and they changed their movement. They rolled their hips forward, making waves with their bodies. He rolled his hips into her butt and she rolled forward before rolling back against his crotch, over and over again.

His hand dropped to her pelvis as if he wanted to feel her movements the moment they happened.

Bonnie brought their laced fingers over her pelvis just as they went back to swiveling their hips. This was much better than 7th grade. His hands were bigger now, and they felt a lot better on her pelvis than on her butt, and she actually knew what she was doing when she slid both of his hands down to cover her sex, and she knew why he hardened on her butt.

Tyler rubbed her sex with both hands, unworried about who could see them and spread it at school the next day. He leaned his head down and took a heady whiff of Bonnie's hair. It went straight to his brain and fogged it so that her smell seemed to take over the room.

He closed his eyes and remembered fat clouds covering a waxing moon. He slid his hands down, because her dress was way above her knees, and it didn't take long for him to hit smooth thighs. He tilted his hands inward and ran them up her thigh and opened his eyes when Bonnie spread her legs to allow him more room to continue going up.

Tyler removed his hands and grabbed her right elbow so she would turn around and face him. Her eyes were pure want topped with a wanton grin when she looked at him, and he kissed her.

Bonnie's eyes widened. It was one thing to grind and touch. Kissing was something else. Different. Unexpected. And then her brain shut down when Tyler moved his lips against hers.

She didn't get a chance to melt into the kiss, because Tyler stopped. She opened her mouth to say something but could come up with nothing. So she closed it and shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Tyler asked.

Bonnie's smile slipped just a little. She couldn't tell if he was mad or if he was being cocky. When he let her go completely and walked away, she decided he was definitely mad.

"Okay, so we've completely lost Caroline," Elena said.

Bonnie turned to her right.

"She's not coming back, but that's no reason for us to let the night go to waste, especially for you."

"Yeah," Bonnie responded distractedly. Now that she'd seen it was only Elena, she'd turned her head in the direction Tyler had left. "Just give me a second, okay? I'll be back."

She left without a backward glance.

* * *

  _And then_ _…_ _.Almost 5 months ago, Middle of June_

"Alabama!"

"Roll tide!"

"Alabama!"

"Roll tide!"

"Roll tide! Roll tide! Roll tide!" Tyler took up the chant before he dissolved into laughter as he stepped down from the bus. He was the one who had started the chant as soon as they'd gotten on the bus from the Ohio State vs. Alabama game. The trip had been a personal gift from his mother to the Mystic Falls High football teams, both varsity and junior varsity.

"Hey coach, you alright?" he asked and laughed when his answer came in the form of a glare. It wasn't the first time he'd asked the question, and it wasn't the first time the new coach, an Ohio native and one of the very few Buckeyes fans on the trip, had looked less than impressed with Alabama's victory.

Tyler liked the new coach, found him to be  _a lot_ better than Tanner.

He'd been nervous about going on the trip. The full moon was coming which meant his impatience, aggression and need to be physical were growing. His senses were sharpening, his awareness expanding. The last thing he needed was watching a competition filled with testosterone.

But it turned out that focusing on a college football rivalry greatly helped his transforming emotions. He wondered if Bonnie's potion had anything to do with it. It was something they'd thought up together. He'd gone to her with the hope that she'd be able to alleviate the pain of his transformations. That had been too big of a task, so they'd settled on tackling the loss of control he felt close to the full moon.

They met at the library after school. He researched everything to do with the cycles of the moon, and she researched calming herbs.

Finally, they'd settled on a mix of theanine and lemon balm. Bonnie had suggested using more herbs, but Tyler had looked at her like she'd lost her mind. This was an experiment. He didn't want to downright suppress the wolf. Who knew what kind of consequence that might have?

* * *

_Herbal Studies, End of May_

"It might come back times a hundred on the full moon. I might wolf out so bad the chains can't hold me," he spoke quietly at the end of the encyclopedia section where he sat on the carpet with Bonnie. "I'm looking for a solution, not side-effects."

"Right," Bonnie said, grimacing. "Sorry."

Both turned their heads to the entrance of the encyclopedia section where Mr. Clysle walked by for the second time in half an hour. He'd be back again, two more times in the second half of the hour.

Bonnie gave Tyler a look, and he rolled his eyes. Mr. Clysle had stopped looking straight at them, but both knew he walked by to check up on them. No one hung out in the Encyclopedia section. It was the least used section in the library, and here Tyler and Bonnie were meeting there twice a week.

The whole thing left Bonnie feeling a little embarrassed. She'd come close to cracking a joke about it a couple of times before deciding it was inappropriate. Not because she was in a relationship with Jeremy, but because Tyler's mind probably wasn't even on that, so she'd only make it awkward by turning his thoughts in that direction.

Meanwhile, Tyler's thoughts frequently turned in that direction, and he blamed Mr. Clysle. How does one not think about sex when another one thinks that one is having sex? That was Tyler's question. He knew Bonnie was trying things out with Gilbert or something. Last he heard from Caroline, it was pretty serious, what with her dying and then him dying for real for real and that bringing them closer together. It was kind of cool and also the exact melodrama he'd expect emo Jeremy Gilbert to be involved in. He wouldn't have pegged Bonnie for it, though. But then again he'd always thought there was more to her. More precise: he always liked to think she had a freaky side.

Like having after school sex with him in the encyclopedia section of the library. He didn't know what happened to Jeremy in that scenario, whether he was still Bonnie's boyfriend or whether he just plain didn't exist, but he knew Bonnie wore a skirt under which was his hand rubbing her wet pussy. The whole thing was covered by the laptop whirring on her thigh, and she kept biting her lip as if she was looking at some very interesting website.

Once his fingers were soaked, he slowly removed them from her humid underwear. She kissed him after, catching her breath from his mouth, kissed him the way he didn't think Bonnie Bennett knew how to kiss.

She ended their research after that, meticulously closed the laptops, unplugged them and handed them to the front desk. They collected their student IDs, and just when he thought they were going their separate ways, she took him to the building across the library, the one that held the JROTC classroom. The classroom was empty an hour after school, the fact that it was locked not a problem for a witch. There, she sat on the teacher's desk and unzipped his pants. He kissed her all the while, because he wanted to find out just how well she could use her tongue. Once he was freed, she scooted to the edge of the desk.

He lined himself, a condom just appears on his dick in the fantasy, and he enters her. Slowly, carefully, and she squeaks and grimaces when he's almost all the way in, but she doesn't tell him to stop, and she sighs when he bottoms out, as if she's been needing it as much as he has, as if spending hours together researching calming herbs left her body feeling anything but calm too.

And then….well. When they're done, they've figured out the perfect solution to help calm the wolf in him before the full moon, and it only costs a box of condoms.

But Bonnie  _is_  with Jeremy, and he was beginning to like Caroline as more than a friend, so Mr. Clysle really has no business thinking about him and Bonnie having sex.

"Besides, you said you're leaving for Georgia with your dad next month. I don't need side-effects you won't be here to help me with."

Bonnie sighed and nodded. She didn't want to vacation during the summer, but her dad was insisting, and after the rude wake-up call he'd suffered when she'd spent three nights out of the house because she was hiding from an Original vampire who wanted her dead, she figured she could give him this one. But she was terrified of something going horribly wrong while she was gone. She also just wanted to spend afternoons cuddling with Jeremy. He'd lost his aunt in a horrific way, and they'd resolved him being mad at her for keeping him away from the sacrifice, so she just wanted to be there for him so he could lean on her.

And Tyler really wished she wouldn't go. Aside from the fact that he liked their research sessions, Stefan was still watching him.

* * *

_And then_ _…_ _.Almost 5 months ago, Middle of_ _June_

Bonnie tapped an uneven beat on her steering wheel. She was parked at the front of the high school and waiting for Antonio "Ant" Ortega. They've been in the same science class since freshman year. She copied his homework when she forgot to do hers or whenever she drew a blank on an equation, and he did the same to her. He was also a wide receiver for the Mystic Falls High Timberwolves.

His car was currently on a timeout because it developed an overheating problem, so he'd asked Bonnie if she could give him a ride home when he came back from Ohio.

But Bonnie's mind wasn't on Ant or the fact that they'd probably have Physics together come Fall. She was leaving for Georgia on Wednesday morning; her dad preferred long drives in the middle of the week; and Tyler would be completely without her protection.

She'd thought about telling her dad she couldn't go more than once, come up with something that wasn't quite the truth but would get her out of the trip. But it wasn't just her dad she'd have to contend with. Her aunt was getting married, and she'd been made a replacement bridesmaid at the last minute. She was stuck. Maybe she could bring Caroline into the situation and task her with—-

Bonnie's hands stilled above the wheel as she focused on where she was. She narrowed her eyes and looked at her surroundings. "What the….hell?"

There was only one other car parked in front of the school, and it was in the shadows. Probably to hide it from vandals.

She reached for her phone on the passenger seat and checked Ant's text. The buses were coming in where they'd left: the parking lot by the track field. She could've sworn that was where she'd driven.

Questioning her brain, she started the car and left for the right parking lot.

* * *

Tyler clicked the upside down thumb on his screen as he walked to the parking lot in front of the school. He needed this radio station to be strictly the artist he'd named it after. What was so hard about that? He already had a station for the one that had started to play. The next song on the lineup wasn't the main artist, but it was agreeable, so he lifted his head and let it play.

His steps slowed when he entered the sparsely lit parking lot. He looked around and only saw one car. That couldn't be his mother. What would she be doing in the shadows?

He checked the text she'd sent him after he'd told her they would be there in thirty minutes. She'd responded ten minutes later and told him she was in front of the school and that she'd fallen asleep. He'd told her the buses were coming by the track field.

_Ty just walk to the front._

He'd squelched his annoyance, because he'd noticed that she was beginning to run herself ragged with her mayoral responsibilities. No wonder she'd fallen asleep. She worked late and left home early. He planned on telling her to slow down. Maybe next time they could get out of town together.

Tyler tapped out a message on his phone.

_Where are you?_

A short moment later, someone pulled one of the earbuds out of his ear.

Tyler spun around and snatched it back and came face to face with a smiling Stefan.

"Right here," Stefan answered.

Tyler took two steps back. "What the….?" He stepped back again and tightened his hold on the phone. "Stefan," he said and tried hard to sound like he didn't think Stefan's presence meant danger for him. "What are you doing here?"

"You know what's funny about you figuring out I've been watching you?" Stefan asked. "Is that ya faked not knowing pretty well on the outside, but inside…" he poked Tyler's chest where his heart beat too fast.

Tyler took half a step back. The full moon was too close for a vampire to be touching him. His skin crawled. But he paused when he saw what Stefan was holding.

Stefan held the object higher and wiggled it side to side to help Tyler better make it out. Carol Lockwood's phone.

Tyler's chest tightened in panic. "Where did you get that?"

"Don't you mean what did I do to her?"

Tyler dropped his duffel and dropped his phone on top of it.

Stefan smiled and cocked his head. "I didn't think it would happen that quickly."

"What do you want, Stefan? Where's my mom?"

"You know what's funny? It's about vervain this time," he assured Tyler. "Vervain does a great job at protecting against compulsion.  _Not_  quite the same when it comes to good ole chloroform."

Chloroform. Tyler's chest expanded just a little. That meant his mother was still alive. Knocked out somewhere. But alive.

"So what is this?" Tyler asked as he took another step back. Stefan might assume he was backing up out of fear, but he was on the wrestling team. Backing up also meant preparing to attack. It also meant preparing to defend.

"You know exactly what this is."

"Too much of a coward to wait for the full moon?"

"Unlike Damon, I would know what you meant to do. Tyler, you're young. Your mentor's dead and so's your dad. And so's your uncle," he said as if he was just now figuring out just how many people Tyler had lost. "You're only a threat to vampires who aren't ready. And I…am ready."

"But you're impatient."

"Not impatient. I mean….I  _didn_ _'_ _t_  want you to have full advantage. I didn't want you to have any advantage at all. But then I decided a little bit of strength on your part would make things more interesting. So," he spanned his gaze across the night sky, "We're close to the full moon. So not impatience, just….choice."

"I'm  _sorry_  about your brother."

"Are you?" Stefan asked like he was confused. "Because I've watched you, and you haven't looked like you give a damn."

"Well I meant sorry in the sense that you lost him. Not in the sense that I cared that you lost him."

Stefan's smile faltered just a little bit. But he wasn't the type to fly off the handle at comments meant to hurt. He made choices.

Like now. He made the choice to stretch his mouth into a smile at Tyler's comment. He made the choice to look up at the sky again and take a deep breath as if what Tyler said was making him pause to think of a come back. And then he made the choice to rush at Tyler and drop Carol Lockwood's phone in the process.

Tyler's never been in a fight with a supernatural. He didn't know what it meant to use his speed to his advantage or use the other person's speed to their  _disadvantage_. He figured Stefan would probably bare his fangs at him and  _then_  rush him.

He was disoriented when he was suddenly on the ground and Stefan was on top of him.

"Come on, Tyler, keep up," Stefan encouraged right before he landed a punch between Tyler's eyes.

Tyler cried out and put his forearms over his face to shield himself.

"Or catch up," Stefan said.

Tyler's mind was in shambles. He tried to become coherent in time for Stefan's next hit and gave himself time by attempting to roll onto his side. It worked because Stefan let him. Stefan got off of him completely.

Irritated, Tyler stood. He was unsteady on his feet. He should be healing faster than this. What was the point of being a werewolf if he was powerless beyond a full moon? Then he remembered: Bonnie's herbs. He'd taken a swig of the tea when he got on the bus in Ohio and right before they entered Mystic Falls. This is what he'd been apprehensive about.

Still, he rushed at Stefan at normal speed and savored the picture of Stefan's grin vanishing when he sped up and spun out as soon as he was close enough for Stefan to brace himself for impact. When the vampire turned around, Tyler connected his fist with his jaw.

Stefan stumbled back but recovered quickly, so he bent and locked his legs when Tyler attempted to tackle him to the ground.

Tyler gritted his teeth and yelled from his throat and braced himself for Stefan's next move. He was letting it happen, whatever it was. He needed to shift. Or at least begin to.  _Why_  had he never practiced shifting? Stefan had been following him for a month and a half. He knew that Bonnie practiced her powers constantly. Why hadn't he done the same? The full moon was close enough. He could feel it. So he had to be good for  _something_  at the moment.

Stefan pushed Tyler back but kept a hold on his shoulders and then put enough momentum on his right leg for the moment he connected it to Tyler's face.

Tyler screamed through the pain. He couldn't be overwhelmed by it. He needed to concentrate. Shifting always involved screaming. Maybe he could scream the wolf out.

Stefan repeated the move, and Tyler screamed again, this time succeeding in baring his teeth. As soon as they were out, he blindly rushed forward and aimed for Stefan's thigh.

Stefan released him and jumped back as soon as he felt Tyler's teeth clamp on his thigh. His skin sensitized because of the quick panic he went through. He grinned disgustedly when he saw that Tyler's canines were out.

"So what is this?" Tyler asked around a mouth full of elongated teeth. "A fight to the death?"

"Yeah," Stefan answered. "Exactly. Because I'm not gonna bite you, Tyler. This isn't gonna be quick. I doubt you can shift completely. I am going to  _beat you_  to death."

Tyler absorbed Stefan's word choice. Doubt. Which means he probably knew as much about Tyler's potential as Tyler did, which was not very much. Werewolves  _were_  an almost instinct bunch, after all. How many werewolves could Stefan have possibly come across?

He then focused on Stefan's other words. Being beaten to death was not how he planned to go out. He'd questioned it before, but he was ready to kill Stefan before the night was over. He wasn't going to risk this happening again, and he doubted anyone could get through to him. He wanted to die like his brother, then so be it.

Stefan super sped at him again, and this time Tyler was ready.

* * *

"Shit!" Bonnie slammed on the breaks. "Tyler," she breathed.

The further she'd gotten away from the front of the parking lot, the more uncomfortable she'd felt. She figured out what this incident reminded her of. The night she'd sleep walked to the location of the tomb, and the day she'd set the car on fire at the car wash. She'd been on her way to the track field's parking lot when she'd fallen into a trance and driven to the front lot.

There was something there. Or there would be. Her subconscious had taken over to guide her. And she remembered that Tyler was also returning from this trip. It couldn't be a coincidence that she'd been thinking about his safety while sitting in the front lot.

She spun the car into an illegal U-turn and dialed Tyler's number. No one picked up the phone.

Her anxiety grew the closer she got to the lot, and she barely threw the car into park before she flew out of the door. She'd parked where she was before, and she came around the car to look around. Same car in the shadows. But also something new.

"Oh my God." She ran to a spot that had a little more light. There was a heap on the floor, and when she got close enough she saw that it was a duffel. "Tyler."

She picked up his phone. Not far away was another phone. She picked it up and attempted to open it. The lock screen was a picture of the Lockwood family. She ran her thumb across it. Tyler's father was dead, so this phone could only belong to his mother.

Without thinking, she ran to the shadowed car. She could've kicked herself when she got to it. Stefan's car. It was Stefan's car. She cursed again and blew the driver's side window in with her telekinesis. She wasn't ready for the alarm that sounded, but she didn't care once the car started screaming. Glancing behind her and seeing no one, she did a thorough search of the car, including the truck after she forced it open with her powers.

Had Stefan been sitting here when she'd been preoccupied with her thoughts? No. She was certain she would've snapped out of it if he'd been watching her. She hoped. More than that, though, Stefan would've abandoned his plan if he'd seen her. They'd missed each other. Lucky for her. Lucky for Tyler.

But how lucky? After all of these weeks, Stefan had stolen him right from under her nose. For all of her practice, she still wasn't familiar with how her psychic powers worked. It was the one power she never explored. Hopefully she wouldn't have to start because of a tragedy. She needed to find Tyler.

She ran back to his belongs. She had no map for a locator spell. She didn't even know where his mother was. This would be the perfect time to tell her everything and then ask for her blood.

Helplessness tried to overwhelm her but she needed to keep a clear head. She did have some of Tyler's belongings. His clothes, his duffel bag. His phone. She swiped her thumb across the screen. His music was still playing.

* * *

Tyler punched Stefan four times in the face and once in the chest. He was out of breath, and he could feel his body straining. His body wanted to shift now that he was forcing it, but he didn't have the  _time_. He doubted Stefan would just stand there and watch while he went through hours of body morphing.

The need to shift made him a little erratic. It was a distraction. One that had given Stefan a couple of openings and left him with bite marks on his neck, forearms and wrists. Tyler had timed it in the parking lot and then made a run for the woods. Jules had called it their natural habitat. He'd run for a clearing, a place where the moon wouldn't be obstructed by any trees.

It beat down on him like the sun. He felt it most keenly on top of his head and on his forehead. He knew this moon heat, a combination of magnetic waves from the moon as well as its gravity, the same that governed the oceans. He knew it had driven people absolutely mad all over the world for centuries until they'd been released from their human bodies. Shifting was an answer, a solution; a reprieve. All of the physical pain had once been restricted to the brain. People had committed all types of vile debauchery in order to find release from the cool, dull,  _insistent_  heat. There had not been a wolf form that allowed them to better handle the most maddening cycle of the moon. Women had fared a tiny bit better, their menstrual cycles aligning with the moon's cycles which allowed them a slight reprieve from the heat. But no one had known deliverance until they'd started to worship the moon, whether it be the orb itself or deities aligned with it. Deliverance had come in many forms: some shifted into animals and some were able to possess normal people and hide from the moon.

"My brother always says werewolves are another type of magic, you know?" Jules had said to him. "We're just magic in another form. People form. Wolf form. We can't throw people into walls or create fire like witches. We change instead; we shift. Witches force change with their magic; they make it happen. We  _are_  the change."

The moon gave him strength now, but he was losing his grip on he control required to navigate the heat of the moon in a human body.

* * *

Even if she wasted the time needed to think of a locator spell that had nothing to do with blood, she would be wasting further time by  _driving_  to get there.

Bonnie held the phone to her chest and looked up at the moon. Why couldn't it be full? But of course Stefan wasn't stupid. Why would he have waited until it was full?

Bonnie looked down at the phone and rubbed her thumb across it. It was Tyler's. Tyler's phone. She'd learned something about someone's personal effects from Luka. Luka whom she'd channeled.

She could channel Tyler. Only instead of taking from him, she could give. She'd done it with Jeremy. The few times she'd channeled Jeremy, she'd simply played around with the energy in his body. Maybe she could make up for the strength Tyler was missing. Maybe she could make up for the moon.

She looked up at it again. It was innocuous to her, but it was the difference between life and death for Tyler. "Help me find him," she requested. She slowly closed her eyes, the image of the moon frozen behind her eyelids.

She lowered her head and relaxed her grip on Tyler's phone. This wasn't a desperate connection like when she'd stolen into Luka's body. Her handle of the phone was as soft as if she was touching Jeremy's chest. She swayed on her feet as the magic rolled within her and swiftly reached out for the object of her desire. She wanted to connect with Tyler; he wasn't around, so her magic filtered through the phone. Her mouth detached and she exhaled as more and more of her magic ran through the phone. She took in a deep breath and inhaled the moon. Wind swirled around her and feathered her hair. She simultaneously felt like she was looking up at the moon and looking down from it.

She exhaled, almost out of breath, when she connected with Tyler. She stumbled for a bit once the connection was made: she started channeling to  _take_  from him, seduced by the feeling of another supernatural being. A  _different_  supernatural being. Tyler's energy was potent, wild, unfocused, and it made her breathless.

* * *

Tyler squeezed Stefan's wrist, the vein in his forehead highly visible and straining as Stefan choked the life out of him. He'd suddenly felt unstable, like his body didn't belong to him, and then he'd felt like he was combatting a second person. This one invisible and sucking  _something_  out of him. It had been all Stefan had needed to overpower him.

The moon was merciless on his head. He was losing it. He closed his eyes tight. The heat seemed to intensify, and then….

And then all of it went away. Not gradually, just….away. He still felt the moon, but it was like there was a filter between him and it. He heard Stefan grunting. The vampire's hold on his neck was lighter, because his neck had grown and thickened, forcing Stefan's hand away.

Tyler opened his eyes and everything was colored in gray. His eyes had changed to their golden hue. His pupils dilated, and when he focused above him he saw fat clouds coming together to cover the waxing moon.

He brought his attention back to Stefan's struggle. Baring his teeth, he tightened his hold on Stefan's wrist and heard the bones give way under his hand.

Stefan grunted through the pain and tried to pull his hand from Tyler's but there was no use. Tyler's sudden strength caught him off guard, but his confidence in his plan wasn't shaken until he looked at Tyler's face. Focus inspired by rage, Stefan knew it well. It was what powered him in the wake of his brother's death.

Stefan screamed when Tyler crushed his wrist completely, and it gave Tyler the kind of sadistic satisfaction that made him thirst for more. Stefan swung down at him with his other hand, and Tyler blocked it before he grabbed Stefan by his shirt and yanked him down so he could crash his head against his. That was all the advantage he needed to throw Stefan off of him.

On his feet, Tyler growled. It was a sound he'd never heard before. When he growled as a wolf, he sounded like an animal. A confused and hurt animal. Now growling when he was mostly human, he sounded like a beast. And he loved the sound. He did it again and saw something new in Stefan's eyes when the latter righted himself: fear. Tyler knew then that Stefan had never seen a werewolf in any stage of its transition before.

"Let's go," he said around a mouth full of teeth.

Stefan was no longer calculating, and the switch unsettled Tyler. Gone was the coldness, the clinical eye with which he'd looked at Tyler. Tyler realized for the first time that Stefan had not bared his fangs or changed his eyes since confronting him. But he did now.

The man who rushed at Tyler now, furious with hot murder in his veined eyes, was feeling the loss of a brotherhood that had spanned a century.

* * *

"Help me find him," Bonnie chanted. She needed to chant, because she was afraid that if she stayed quiet with her eyes closed then she'd hear all of the little noises that only appeared at night, and she'd get distracted and probably cost Tyler his life. If she hadn't already.

"Help me find him; help me find him; help me find him. Help me find him. Help me find him."

Tyler had heard her long before he entered the parking lot. Once he was through with Stefan and he'd realized and assessed the magnitude of the damage he'd done, he'd had time to focus on the foreign power. Something about it had been familiar.

His attention had been called by the moon. It was uncovered now, and it seemed to speak to him. It seemed alive, vibrant. "Help me find him," it said. The voice was low and partially distorted by the moon heat. It rubbed against Tyler's ear, a dull cold but comforting somehow.

"Help me find him," Bonnie said in the parking lot.

Tyler had realized it was her the closer he'd gotten to the school. He'd walked instead of sped, because he liked the voice, liked the strangeness of the power coursing inside him. His clothes were torn because of the fight and because of the shift his body had continued to go through. His legs had extended and grown. He'd been fighting on his hind legs, something that had aided his balance, given him a strong grip on the ground when Stefan tried to topple him. He'd never completely walked on all fours; he'd never transitioned completely. But his jaw had extended and his ears had changed, his fingernails turned to claws, and he'd torn into Stefan's body, scratched him apart and bitten through his flesh. The vampire's blood had stung when it smeared his gums, mouth and hands, but it had only made him want to kill him quicker.

He saw Bonnie now, and his gold eyes recognized the energy that glowed around her. It was the energy from the woods all those weeks ago.  _Magic._ This close to Bonnie, he turned to look up at the moon. What he saw there puzzled him. The clouds that masked it before were gone, though all around it the clouds merged together and parted, formed odd shapes, thinned and engorged. But now that he was within hearing distance of Bonnie's voice, the moon itself looked less vibrant, less pulsing with….something. Now it was shrouded in that same energy that emitted from Bonnie. Her power.

Tyler looked down at his hands. He felt her power inside him, but what he saw was his own energy. Calmer than those nights when he transitioned, a little less potent, but  _clearer_.  _Stronger._  He understand now that the potency of his energy while transitioning came from his emotions and the chemicals he gave off as a result: fear, panic, anguish, pain, and a desperate need to  _not_  be what he is, to  _not_  be going through what he was going through. But tonight….

He smiled at his hands and turned back to Bonnie.

"Help me find him."

She still didn't register his presence, which gave him the chance to observe her. Her hands were closed in supplication around his phone. Channeling. He'd asked her some questions about her own abilities, and she'd told him about this one. That was what she was doing. She was channeling him. That was the surge of power he'd felt, that was the  _focus_  he'd needed. She was using all of her energy to help him, to give him a boost. She'd been the shade over the too-hot moon.

"Bonnie."

"Help me—-"

Bonnie stopped chanting and opened her eyes. She gasped and relief flooded her. "Tyler," she breathed. Her heart sped up because of his gold eyes and because he was walking straight for her with an intensity she never would've associated with him. "Ty," she said when he stopped in front of her.

Tyler smiled. "Why are you crying?"

Bonnie touched fingers to wet cheeks. When did she start crying?

"I….I've never channeled a dead body before. I don't know if I can. I mean maybe I can if they're human, I mean mortal, I mean not undead, you know? You could've been a dead body this whole time. I couldn't get to you."

"You got to me," he said softly. Then, "You stopped…."

Bonnie frowned, "Stopped what?" she asked as soft as he'd spoken.

Instead of answering, Tyler captured her parted lips and made up for the contact she'd taken away. She'd stopped channeling him. He captured the breath she released, and he seized her hips in his hands. Her mouth was warm and soft against his, and he licked her bottom lip and begged to be let in.

Bonnie opened up, and removed her hands from between them. Tyler took the last step to be chest to chest with her. She put the hand holding the phone around his hip and ran the fingers of the other through the back of his hair. Their tongues meddled, and the coolness of his mouth, of his whole body, was like fresh water cleansing her of all worry and all of the stress and of all the panic. He felt  _new_. He made her feel  _new_. He tasted like just what she needed, and she didn't remember to be surprised by the kiss until he started groping her butt.

"Jeremy."

"What?"

"Jeremy," she repeated again in the kiss. She closed her eyes tighter to clear the cobwebs. She tried to step back, but Tyler didn't let her slip out of his grasp. "I can't," she whined with her eyes closed, ready for Tyler to ignore it and keep kissing her, almost wanting it. But he didn't. He kept her in his arms, but kept his lips away from her.

Bonnie straightened and cleared her throat. She wanted to step forward into his orbit when Tyler's hands dropped from her body. She licked her lips. "I can't do this."

"I heard you the first time," Tyler said.

Bonnie swallowed at the stoicism in his face. "I'm sorry."

Tyler smiled a bitter smile. She didn't need to be sorry. He was the one who'd opened up the situation. He knew she had a boyfriend, though Jeremy had been far from his mind until Bonnie brought him up.

"What happened with Stefan?" Bonnie asked to change the subject. Her voice was still just above a whisper.

"He's dead," Tyler answered, the stoicism falling from his face. "I….He died with his eyes open. It's kind of….almost like he's still trying to fight for his brother."

Bonnie noticed the dried smears of blood around his jaw, like he'd tried to wipe it clean. She looked down and saw the evidence on what was left of his shirt.

Tyler looked down at what she was seeing. He suddenly felt out of place. "I'm sorry," he apologized when he looked up at her.

"It's fine," Bonnie reassured him.

Tyler looked away, visibly upset.

"Ty," Bonnie grabbed the tatters of his shirt to get his attention. She then laid her palm on his right cheek and forced him to look at her. "Stop it," she implored. "I said it's fine. It's not like I tasted it." She meant it to come out as a joke, but it came out….weird. She was talking about not tasting the blood that had been in his mouth. She suddenly wondered  _why_  there wasn't an aftertaste in his mouth. All she'd tasted was cool freshness.

Tyler nodded. Her warm hand was on his face. He wanted to kiss her again.

"Where is he?" Bonnie asked.

"Out in the woods." He hadn't bothered to move the body. Someone would probably find him the same way that hiker had found Jules' camping victims.

"We need to move him."

"We need to find my mom first. He has her somewhere."

"I'm guessing he didn't say where?"

"He chloroformed her. She's either at my house or his house. Where else is there? There's the cellar where I transition."

"Do you want to split up?"

He really didn't want to.

"Actually there's a faster way," Bonnie answered her own question. "A way I didn't have when I was looking for you. I need a map and your blood."

* * *

_Homecoming_

Bonnie stepped out into the cool early November air. She knew where Tyler was walking to. None of the party-goers would wander there. She didn't remember when she'd learned it was his favorite place to be alone on his large property.

"Tyler! I know you hear me behind you. Lockwood! Will you  _stop_?"

* * *

_Junior Year, Fall, Family Ties_

"Hey, Bennett! Bonnie! What are you, deaf?"

Bonnie snapped out of her walking daze when someone grabbed her arm and turned her to face them. "Tyler."

"Are you alright? Did you take something?" Her eyes were way too wide.

Bonnie swallowed. "I'm fine. Doing okay," she nodded.

"Party get too boring for ya?"

Bonnie smiled. "Uh, no. Kind of the opposite." What was boring about lighting all of the candles inside a room?

"Yeah, well," Tyler said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking around at all the parked cars. "I've had enough of it."

"Too stuffy?"

"How'd you guess?" he asked sarcastically.

Bonnie smiled and rolled her eyes. Unless Matt was around, Tyler had a horrible time at his parents' parties.

"Why are you leaving solo?"

"Cause I was here solo. Not really," she admitted when Tyler raised doubting eyebrows. "Caroline, Elena, and I were supposed to come together. Like always. Except Caroline decided to hook up with Damon Salvatore, the new kid's older brother—"

"Yeah, I know the new kid," Tyler said.

"And Elena  _came_  with the new kid, and for some reason I forgot that that would be happening, and she probably did too, and  _I_  am here all alone. So I figure what's the point."

"Bonnie Bennett, bitter. There's something I never thought I'd see."

"I'm not  _bitter_. Thanks. I'm just….going through some stuff."

Tyler observed her. The way she kept looking to the side, he knew she really wanted to leave. "Wanna come with me?"

"Where?" Bonnie asked suspiciously.

"I didn't start the party out alone either, but…." He turned and started walking.

Bonnie sent her eyeballs up to her eyelids, exhaled, and followed him.

Following Tyler turned into walking with Tyler, and she was actually enjoying herself by the time they rounded the back of the house and walked a little ways more to an isolated bench that looked like it belonged in the town square. Tyler sat and Bonnie followed.

"So who did you come with?" Bonnie asked.

"Vicky."

" _Donovan?_ "

It was Tyler's turn to roll his eyes at Bonnie's incredulity.

"Sorry, I mean….okay, what the heck is going on with that? Because I've seen her with Jeremy—-"

"That's just…crap," Tyler interrupted.

"Unlike what she has with you? What  _does_  she have with you? Are you serious about her?"

Tyler shrugged and frowned because Tyler Lockwood didn't get serious about any girl.

"So why are you alone now?"

"Because she…." he gestured with his hand. "It was her idea to come to the party, okay?" he said, finally looking at Bonnie. "I knew it wouldn't be a good idea. I knew…." He looked at the house, and a muscle in his jaw ticked.

Bonnie followed his line of sight. "Your parents." It wasn't a complete guess. She'd read him somehow, a supernatural reading, and it made her straighten her back in hopes that nothing else weird would happen while she was sitting with him. There was no way she'd be able to explain setting the bushes behind them on fire.

"Vicky's not…." he trailed off.

"New money. Let alone old money," Bonnie finished for him. She thought of the way Carol Lockwood had spoken to that waiter. "I'm sorry," she said when she saw how sad Tyler looked.

"It's whatever. But Vicky doesn't understand that; she really thought….My parents would tear her apart,  _especially_  my mom. She already had a go after Vicky left." Tyler's chest burned with anger over Vicky's behalf when he remembered his mother calling her trash.

"So why  _are_  you into her? I'm serious," Bonnie said when Tyler looked at her and frowned. "I mean…you know your parents—-"

"So every kid does what their parents want?"

"So is that it? You're rebelling?"

"Like Gilbert?"

"Stop. Jeremy's mourning his parents."

"'Cause he sure wasn't into girls like Vicky before."

"So are you not gonna answer the question?"

"What does it matter?" he asked impatiently.

"Because I'm asking," Bonnie said, growing irritated on Vicky's behalf. "If you're  _not_  serious about her, then  _don_ _'_ _t_  put her through this. Yeah, I know how your parents are; I've seen your mom. Don't give her a reason to talk crap about her."

Tyler nodded, biting the inside of his bottom lip without thinking. "Right."

Bonnie's lips parted as she mulled over his sad look again. "You can have fun with other girls. You have before."

"Right," Tyler agreed.

But he agreed a little too easily, his tone a little too….defeated.

"You like her," Bonnie said softly. "A lot."

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. So let's talk about you," he said more cheerfully.

Bonnie inclined her head at the change in subject. She hated it. She was familiar with Matt doing it any time the subject of his deadbeat father came up. She knew Tyler was familiar with the fake perkiness, too. They'd exchanged many glances over Matt's employment of it.

"What's with having fun at the party and then leaving?"

"Uh," Bonnie stalled. She didn't think he was going to go back to  _that_  topic. "Things just got a little too exciting is all."

"At my  _parents_ _'_  party?" he asked skeptically.

"Things have just been….weird lately."

"With you?" Tyler asked, ducking his head down so he can catch her downcast eyes. "What's so weird about you?"

"Okay, can you…be serious?"

Tyler sobered when he saw how worried she looked. "What's going on? Is it your dad?"

Bonnie chuckled. "I wish. I wish this was about another argument at family dinner between my dad and my grams. But it's not. It's me," she explained while looking down.

Tyler racked his brain for a reason since she obviously wasn't going to provide one. Did she lose her V-card? Did she get in a fight, is she on drugs, is she  _selling_  drugs? "Is it about a guy?"

"No," Bonnie deadpanned and looked at him, "But thanks for trying."

"Well you're not giving me anything."

"And I'm not going to."

Tyler reeled back just a little bit and suddenly felt like a failure. Here she had listened so well to his problem, guessed correctly at a few things and generally tried to be helpful, and he'd joked about her problem and then made a stupid guess. Now she wasn't taking him seriously enough to tell him anything.

"I can't," Bonnie finished.

Tyler didn't believe her. "Right." He didn't give it another shot.

"So what is this place?" Bonnie asked to change the subject.

"My spot," he answered, though he felt less relaxed than he'd felt a moment ago. Bonnie obviously wasn't relaxed with him. "I come here to think, to be alone and away from everyone I don't like."

Bonnie smiled. "I like it."

Tyler looked over at her. She was looking at the expanse of grass. "You look really nice tonight, by the way."

Bonnie gave him a long look.

"I mean it. I like the dress. Short with no tights looks good on you."

Bonnie chuckled. "Thanks."

* * *

_Homecoming_

"Tyler!" Bonnie called out again, thankful that the Lockwoods kept the best gardeners because otherwise her heels would be sinking into the dirt.

" _What?_ " Tyler whirled around to face her.

"Finally," Bonnie said as she continued to speed walk to catch up to him. "You do this to all the girls you kiss?"

"Oh, so now we're joking."

"No," Bonnie said seriously as she came to a stop in front of him. "I just….it was the first thing that came to mind."

Tyler turned to continue on his way.

"Stop," Bonnie commanded.

"For what?" Tyler asked, turning around again.

"You're pissed."

"I'm not."

"Why?" Bonnie asked as if he did not just deny it.

Tyler looked at her for a long moment, hands in his pockets, jaw tense.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said.

"For what?" he snapped. "You just asked me what was wrong."

Bonnie swallowed. She was probably about to apologize for something Tyler hadn't even noticed. "For the summer."

Tyler's jaw relaxed a fraction, and he swallowed, and Bonnie considered the possibility that her apology wouldn't seem so random to him after all.

"Don't worry about it," Tyler said.

"I didn't call."

"Or text or even e-mail, but hey. You had a job to do, and it was done. We've never really been  _friends_."

Bonnie cast her eyes away from his accusation.

"Stefan was dead; the werewolf was safe; you could….go back to doing whatever. I just don't get why you still ignored me when you got back; I mean I got that part, but what I mean is I don't get why you started to  _look_  at me as soon as your boy cheated on you."

"You've been looking at me, too." The quietness of her tone didn't take away from its defensiveness.

Tyler scoffed and resumed his walk.

"I was trying to be a good girlfriend," Bonnie said to his back without leaving her spot.

Tyler paused and turned to face her.

"You and I kissed. Remember? I couldn't call you while I was gone; it wasn't….right. I wouldn't have any reason to tell Jeremy about it because it's not like you and I talk all the time, and then again the only reason I  _wouldn_ _'_ _t_  tell Jeremy is because we  _did_  kiss. Like you said, we didn't start spending a lot of time together until the Stefan thing, and once that was over…."

"You don't think it'd be believable that we just….became friends over the course of it all?" he asked sarcastically.

"Is that all we would've been? Friends?"

Tyler couldn't honestly answer in the affirmative. Instead he said, "If that's how you would've wanted it."

"I did want to talk to you.  _Just_  as friends. I wanted to check up on you, to see how you were doing, especially once Jeremy and John told me that werewolves were dying. I did miss you. Because you did become my friend. I cared about you; I still do. But every time I felt guilty, I just told myself that it didn't matter to you, that I was obsessing over something you weren't even thinking about. And when I heard about you and Caroline, I figured I was right," she said with a shrug. "Or did you not think she would tell both of her friends about you two sleeping together, whether one was out of town or not."

"That was nothing," Tyler said before his brain could stop his mouth.

Bonnie nodded, unconvinced. "Anyways, it doesn't even matter. Because while I was doing everything to be faithful, Jeremy was here falling into every trap that appeared in front of him. So. So much for that," she said resolutely.

"He's an idiot."

Bonnie smiled sardonically. "Aren't you guys buddies now?"

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean he can't be an idiot. I can have idiotic friends. Besides, you were my….." he trailed off.

"Friend?" Bonnie supplied with a small smile.

"First," Tyler completed after her with a little smile of his own. Sobering, he said, "You didn't deserve what he did. You deserve better. A lot better."

"Doesn't matter," Bonnie said, eyes downcast.

Tyler quieted down his frustration. She wasn't looking at him which meant she wasn't seeing what he meant. Because in that moment he felt that  _better_  was  _him_. He liked her. A lot.

"You loved him, didn't you?" he guessed softly.

Bonnie looked at him and smiled. "Yeah," she pushed the confession out. "It's kind of how I saved his life." She lifted one shoulder in a delicate shrug. "I told the witches I loved him, and they brought him back to life. Some of them. Or one of them. I'm not really sure how many it took to do it."

"You've never told him?"

"No," she scoffed. "I wanted to wait for the right time, like when I was back in town? I wanted to do it in person." Her heart ached anew, and she felt freshly stupid for the amount of preparation she'd been putting into telling Jeremy she loved him. "But he heard it from someone who mattered more."

"You don't think he knew?"

After a moment, she answered. "I'd rather believe he didn't know than that he knew and just didn't care. I can't….handle that possibility. The whole thing hurts enough."

"I don't think she mattered more than you. I can't imagine."

Bonnie smiled, and Tyler was glad she looked into his eyes this time. She heard him.

"So were you running off to your little spot?" she asked.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, no. Um, you should kind of know that I invited Jeremy."

"To the party?" she asked incredulously. "Why? He's not a senior."

"Juniors aren't barred from homecoming. Besides, he didn't go to the dance; I just thought he could use some fresh air and….contact with people who aren't his uncle, his sister, or me."

"Cause he's such a social butterfly," Bonnie said sarcastically.

Tyler chuckled. "I thought you'd be with your girls; I didn't know you'd come and talk to me. I thought you were going to let the status quo be the status quo."

Bonnie took a step toward him. "You do believe me, don't you? That I'm sorry?"

"Yeah," Tyler said. "I mean I could've reached out to you, too."

"Yeah, you could've."

"Would you have answered?" he deadpanned.

"Probably not," Bonnie answered, barely moving her mouth.

Tyler nodded. "That's swell."

Bonnie smiled. She moved past him to continue on to the bench.

Tyler turned to follow her, his eyes lingering on her toned legs. He then trailed them up to watch the way hips fell and rose with every step she took. He drank in the way the dress hugged her waist.

"I like the dress," he said. "Short with not tights."

Bonnie threw him a dazzling smile over her shoulder. "Thank you," she said.

The compliment made her stomach dip, because she had just begun to put a little something in her step in hopes that Tyler was watching her. Biting her lip, she walked with even more confidence.

She reached the bench and sat down. "You look great, too," she said when he sat next to her. "I mean it," she reassured him when he only looked toward his house with a small smile. "You look hot."

Tyler's smile turned into one he had to fight to keep from getting wider. He'd naturally thrown his arm on the back of the bench, and now he hoped she would scoot closer to him.

Bonnie looked up at the first quarter moon. "Look," she said softly. She'd started to pay close attention to the different moon cycles over the summer. She'd researched and looked up any and every magical connotations they might have. She'd told herself at the time that it was just research; she was doing what she always did: looking for new ways to explore her powers.

With Tyler sitting next to her now, and after the dancing and that kiss, she knew now that it had been her way of coping with not contacting him.

"Half moon," Tyler said. "It's setting at midnight. This is nothing, though. You should've seen it at sunset."

"I didn't look up," Bonnie said.

"Next time."

Bonnie looked at him, but he didn't look at her. It sounded like a promise, maybe even a date.

"I want to show you something," Tyler said suddenly, and he stood. It was risky, but he knew Bonnie wouldn't pass up an opportunity to practice magic.

"What?" Bonnie asked.

"Come on," he said and reached out a hand.

Bonnie took it and stood.

Tyler took a couple of steps back, leading her into him. When he stopped, he kept pulling her, and Bonnie walked into his arms. He wrapped one around her waist.

"Channel me," he said.

"Why?" she asked softly with a slight smile.

"I want to show you something. Do it exactly like you did that night, with the moon and everything."

He'd told her about hearing her voice through the moon after they'd found his mom in the Salvatore dungeon that night.

Bonnie almost said she'd have a better chance of recreating whatever it was that he was after if she channeled him through his phone, but she didn't want to put any distance between them. So she raised her hands to the back of his head and ran her palms down his hair, never breaking eye contact.

She continued her hands down to his neck and then parted them so that they traced to each side of his neck. "I want you to do something for me, too."

"What?" Tyler asked. He'd do pretty much anything she wanted if she kept touching him like that.

"Your eyes. I want you to do the eyes."

Tyler grinned. "The wolf eyes?"

"I like them," she admitted.

Tyler would definitely do anything she wanted. Her sultry eyes pulled him in, and he couldn't bear the thought of her looking at anything or anyone else in that moment. "Deal," he agreed.

Bonnie closed her eyes and flexed her fingers on the sides of his neck, her thumbs resting on his jaw bones. She steadied her breathing, and pictured that night. Not the fear and uncertainty, but what she'd felt after he'd walked back to her. She opened her eyes for a second and when she closed them again the magic flowed from her to Tyler before spiking up to the moon.

She didn't plead with the moon to help her find Tyler. Instead she reflected while magic flowed between her, Tyler, the moon, and back to her. She was attracted to Tyler, every attracted. She might even like him. She definitely liked the attention he gave her. He was nice, sometimes prickly, actually a good listener, very hot, and he was supernatural like her. Supernatural and  _alive_  like her. His lycanthropy was hereditary like her magic, and that, hereditary power, was something she still hadn't been able to share with anyone.

They weren't super close, but it always felt comfortable when they talked. He didn't make her feel giddy and special like Jeremy did. He made her feel different, which is what she needed right now. Right now, she did  _not_  want  _anyone_  making her feel like Jeremy did. She didn't want any reminders of why she'd fallen for  _him_  out of anyone else. Right now, at the party earlier, and that night, Tyler made her feel reckless. He made her feel bold. He made her want to throw out expectations, hers and everyone else's, and do what she wanted, take what she wanted. He made her want to not care about anything other than what she wanted, what would make her feel good. And what would make her feel good right now was…..

Bonnie opened her eyes. Tyler's were closed, his top lashes resting prettily against the bottom ones. Her heart jumped when Tyler suddenly opened his yellow-gold eyes. Her breath rushed out in a nervous chuckle. Tyler slightly titled his head to one side as he observed the calm energy around her.

"What did you want to show me?" Bonnie asked.

Tyler righted his head and said, "Look up."

Bonnie gasped at what she saw. The night sky was covered in beautiful, thick white clouds. They passed overhead as if they were sped up .5 seconds on a computer screen.

Tyler walked behind her so that he'd be out of the way. Bonnie lowered her eyes and saw the moon and chuckled in wonder. It came in and out of sight, short clouds coming together, parting, and passing each other over it.

"I did this?" she asked.

"You're doing it," Tyler answered and traced his hands from her hips to her lower stomach and linked his fingers there. His eyes were trained on the moon. The clouds looked even more beautiful than they had the night he killed Stefan. And there was the added bonus of Bonnie's reaction this time.

Bonnie's stomach drowned in butterflies at the feel of Tyler's hands over it. She rested her own over his and resumed channeling him, and she watched the clouds respond. They formed and dissipated, grew and thinned. "This is beautiful," she marveled.

Tyler looked down as she relaxed into his chest. He hugged her closer and was emboldened when she squeezed her hands.

"How does it feel?" she asked.

"What?"

"Me channeling you."

"I don't know. I'm not paying attention."

Bonnie suddenly turned around, amusement in her eyes and tone. "You're not paying attention?"

Her amusement died when she saw Tyler's face. His eyes were back to dark brown, but they looked hungry, needy. She knew he was about to kiss her. She beat him to it.

Tyler was surprised but no less ready when Bonnie captured his lips. He responded immediately, caressing her bottom lip while she cared for the top of his. His hands grazed her back while hers tangled in his hair. Kissing him distracted her from channeling, but he didn't mind, especially when he slipped his tongue past her parted lips and coaxed a satisfied moan from her.

Bonnie felt weightless, like she would float up to the clouds above if Tyler wasn't holding her. Kissing him felt like satisfaction and like a hunger that could never fully be sated, all at the same wonderful time. It drove her to kiss him harder, deeper, let him in deeper. It made her want to be closer to him, made her want his hands all over her.

Tyler was already complying. He couldn't get enough of how well the dress molded to her body. He roamed her back, up to her neck where he massed the back of it, and she moaned again and sagged against him before she righted herself. She opened her mouth to take a huge breath, and he quickly licked the roof of her mouth.

Bonnie wrapped both arms around his neck and stumbled back, wishing they were somewhere with a soft bed so that she could drag him down with her.

Her channeling powers kicked in of their own accord, and Tyler moaned in her mouth and felt his dick twitch. He felt his eyes change color, his body warmed, and he spread that warmth to her. He wanted her in his domain, surrounded by him, his scent, his power.

Bonnie wretched her lips from Tyler's and was immediately thirsty for more. But something strange was happening to her, and it was confirmed when she looked at Tyler.

"Is this okay?" he asked. He was as breathless as she was.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

"Healing. It's like channeling, but it's all about you," he said as he brought her close again. He didn't stop what he was doing. "The feedback for me is purely emotional, putting that power over somebody, having control, putting a part of me in them. Jules said we use it to comfort people, because it does something to your brain, releases some kind of chemical that calms you down. If someone's like dying of hypothermia or they're too cold, we can warm them up. If you're really good, you can heat up just a part of the body and cauterize a wound."

"It's all biology," Bonnie said, impressed.

"Basically. But we can also take all of that away: make you colder, shut down whatever could help your wounds heal, shut down the immune system even."

" _Shut down the immune system?_ "

Tyler smiled. He didn't get much chance to explain his powers and all he could possibly do one day. Jeremy was the only other person whom he'd enlightened to the possibilities available to him. Tyler liked being knowledgeable about being a werewolf, liked teaching people something about it.

"Yeah, so healing is just one part of it. I'm not really there yet with all the offensive stuff," he explained.

Bonnie smiled. "But some day you will be."

She sounded completely confident in his ability to get there one day, and Tyler knew there was something wrong with him. Jeremy's been driving him crazy, and now all of his feelings for Bonnie were resurfacing. It was one thing to think about her, to see her at school and resent the lack of communication between them. It was another to have her standing in his arms. He wanted her, too. Jeremy had taken up the main role in his fantasies over the last month, but he had never let Bonnie go. She and Jeremy had broken up at the beginning of September, and she's been looking at him since the middle of September. She was done with Jeremy, status-wise at least, and the nascent Hunter felt too guilty and was respectful enough not to force her to listen to an explanation.

But Tyler's chance with Bonnie was just beginning. He didn't know what the hell he was going to do about Jeremy and was looking forward to getting away from him in two weeks when he left for Miami, but he was with Bonnie now, and  _now_  she'd made it clear that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. She wasn't beholden to be a good girlfriend anymore.

"What does it feel like?" he asked her of what was going on inside of her.

Bonnie's lips twitched like she was trying to keep the answer inside her head.

Tyler raised his eyebrows.

Embarrassed, Bonnie laughed. "Honestly? Um." She rolled her eyes when Tyler looked at her with more interest. "It makes me horny," she said defiantly.

Tyler found the rebellious tilt of her chin adorable. "How horny?"

That look was back in his eyes: hungry, needy.

Bonnie could play, too. "Touch me and find out." Just saying it made her wetter.

Tyler flexed his jaw and felt his body get warmer. His skin prickled, and his heart picked up.

He held her hand and led them back to the bench. He took a seat, and the feeling that went through him when Bonnie did  _not_  take a seat too, when she stood there, her hand in his, and waited for his next move was comparable to when he finally finished shifting and stood tall and glossy as a wolf. It kicked his adrenaline into gear. It was relief and power; it felt like the ecstasy of finally being able to control his body after the transition was complete. He smiled.

"Hike up your dress."

Bonnie did as instructed, a smile playing over her lips. It wasn't long before the material was level with her underwear. It was short, as Tyler had remarked before. She bit her lip when Tyler closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was sniffing her, and the knowledge made her cunt feel just a little heavier. When he smiled, she knew he liked what he smelled.

"Come here?"

Bonnie walked closer, and he grabbed her right leg at the knee. She held one of his shoulders for support as he put her leg down next to him on the bench, opening her sex to him.

Tyler held firmly to her hips to keep her still. He put his face to her crotch and inhaled her heady scent. It lit him on fire, and that's all he did for a time: he familiarized himself with her scent. He knew her magic, and now he would know her smell.

Bonnie's sex flexed involuntarily. He was so close, and he looked comfortable, which made her….happy. It made her happy. She supposed it was a weird reaction to have to  _this_  in particular, but it was what she felt. Oh she was horny, but she was  _happy_  to have Tyler so close and doing something so simple.

She did the only thing she could think to do: she began to pet his hair. "Your party's still going on," she teased.

"So?" Tyler responded, his voice low with want. And he was done denying himself. "I have a wingman," he informed her with a smile.

He slicked her underwear to the side and licked her clit before sucking it into his wet mouth. He was in an excited state, which made him produce more saliva than usual. He'd kept it at bay while kissing her, but he let it go as he ate her pussy. It was simply more lubrication to the one she was producing.

Bonnie watched him crane his neck to lick the length of her pussy, watched him reach to lap at her entrance. She licked her lips and enjoyed finally having Tyler's mouth on her pussy. She was excited to find out what he was like. She was excited for him to make her come. His tongue felt good; his lips sucked at the right time. His mouth was moist, his breath hot and fanning her hard clit, and her stomach turned skittish when he moaned into her.

"Do you like it?" she asked. "Mmm-mmm," she denied and instead pushed his head against her pussy when he moved to take his lips away to answer her. She felt him smile on her skin.

In his mind, Tyler jumped up and pumped his fist. He was fucking delirious, because that right there was the hottest thing that had ever happened to him.

Complying with what she wanted, he answered around a mouth full of her pussy, "Mmm-hmm."

Something as simple as that made Bonnie feel drunk with power, like she could get him and any guy to do anything. Part of her thought that was silly; all of her thought it was fun. She liked an acquiescent Tyler as much as she'd liked the one who'd exposed her sex so he could smell his fill. "I like it, too," she told him.

"I really like it," she moaned again later when her clit started to buzz from his tongue's manipulation. The leg she stood on was getting numb from her weight, no matter how often she bent her knee to relieve it, but she didn't want him to stop. She didn't want to disrupt her oncoming orgasm.

Luckily for her, Tyler sat up to relieve his spine and neck after having to lean in and duck to get all of her. But he didn't remove his face from her pussy. Instead, he pulled her with him, forcing Bonnie to scramble up on the bench.

"Hold on," she cautioned as her one leg went from numb to sleep now that she was moving it. She finished climbing when Tyler let go of her. He scooted so that his back rested against the bench, and Bonnie stretched her one leg before bending her knees and supporting them on the back of the bench so that her vagina was level with Tyler's mouth. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it was a reprieve from the last position she was in.

Thoughts of her discomfort were chased away by Tyler's tongue on her pussy. Her gave her a thorough and enthusiastic tonguing, and she was vocal with her appreciation; she couldn't help it. She rutted against his face the higher he took her. His hands on her ass were almost hot, unintentional on his part, but it drove Bonnie crazy. Her breathing was broken and labored, and when she came it sounded like she was hiccuping, her hips thrusting in his face in perfect unison with her abrupt breaths.

"Shit," Bonnie cursed before it dissolved into a moan when a smaller spasm seized her clit, and she experienced a second shaking orgasm in Tyler's waiting mouth. She gripped his hair and hoped to God she wouldn't topple over on the other side of the bench.

She used his head for leverage when she took her quaking vagina away from his beautiful lips.

"Careful," Tyler said. He licked his lips and tasted her. He held her thighs to help her stabilize. Her hard breathing was music to his ears, and he wanted more of it.

Bonnie removed her left leg from across his body and then ungracefully jumped down from the bench and landed on her heels. Tyler quickly stood to make sure she didn't stumble or fall while she discreetly readjusted her underwear. "I'm okay," she assured him when he held her waist.

"Yeah?"

She chuckled. Her one leg had fallen asleep again. "Barely. But it's good. It's in a good way," she told him.

Tyler smiled. He helped her back onto the bench and wished he could sit her on his lap instead. He watched her relax, and when she finally looked at him, she said, "You're doing the eyes."

"Because you taste so damn good," he responded.

Bonnie bit her lip through her smile. "You  _were_  so damn good," she flirted back.

Tyler grazed his knuckles against her cheek and kissed her, closed-mouth kisses that didn't last long but felt like they'd been waiting to be shared.

Bonnie grabbed his wrist and flicked her tongue out to lick his lips, and when they deepened the kiss Tyler tasted like he could be the next one to break her heart.

Tyler was forced to stop when she ducked her head down and took her lips away from him. Trying to see her eyes, he said, "Hey. You okay?"

Bonnie lifted her head and smiled. "Yes, perfect. It's perfect." She was relieved when he bought the lightness in her voice.

Tyler wanted to ask her what she wanted to do next. Instead he kissed her again and told her he wanted to do this again through the kiss. And when she started to channel him through his chest, he fantasized that she heard him loud and clear.

"How does it feel?" Bonnie asked lazily after she broke the kiss.

Tyler cleared his brain so that he could process his answer. "Calm," he said. "It feels like I have someone else's power inside me."

"You feel that, too?" she asked excitedly. "That's how it feels when you….heal me."

He smiled. "It was  _really_  calming the first time. It helped me focus. Everything was crazy, the moon was beating down on me; I could only concentrate on  _it_  and this need to shift. When you started channeling me, it was like you helped me focus all of that."

"I've always wanted to ask you what you felt when I channeled you that night."

"Well ya know, a simple phone call would've gotten you the answer."

Bonnie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "For the third time, I'm sorry."

"Oh I'm gonna need to hear it a fourth time, a fifth, a six…."

"I'm sorry; I'm sorry; I'm sorry…."

Tyler laughed, and it was so carefree that she laughed in response.

Bonnie lifted her shoulders close to her ears to stave off a chill. "I'm kind of cold," she announced and rubbed a fist up and down her arm. His warmth was seeping out of her.

"Here," Tyler said and hugged her close. He mimicked the placement of her hand when they'd been kissing: he warmed her up from her chest. Her breasts were soft and full under his palm, and he liked the way she heaved into his hand. He cupped each breast in turn and memorized how the supple flesh gave away to his plying fingers.

Bonnie played with the hand that played with her breasts. Her touch light as air, she ghosted her fingers over his thumb, his index, then his middle, the ring, and the pinky. Afterwards, she rasped her fingers over the back of his hand and left magic in their wake.

Tyler's nostrils flared as her power rolled through him again. "I wanna try something," he declared.

"Okay." She was up for anything he wanted.

Tyler grabbed the thigh farther from him and moved it away from the one close to him. Bonnie yielded her body to him and observed what he was doing. She saw fingering in her immediate future, and it was enough to make her hold her breath in anticipation. She hadn't gotten a chance to have a  _whole_  lot of sex with Jeremy, but the couple of times they'd done it, he'd never really taken the time to finger her. He was bigger on giving head than he was on fingering, and she didn't mind  _at all_. She'd never felt like wanting it the times she'd been with him. But Tyler was offering now, and she was curious to see if it would compare to getting head.

Tyler slid his hand inside her underwear and started to rub.

Bonnie jumped when her vulva became uncharacteristically warm. "What are you doing?"

"Trying something," Tyler answered.

"Making my vagina hot? No," she said and started to remove his hand.

"Bonni—"

"Have you done this before?" she asked worriedly.

"No—-"

"Uh uh," she responded immediately and resumed removing his hand.

"It'll be fine," Tyler stressed, smiling at her panic.

"I'm sorry, didn't you say you can make someone hot enough to cauterize their wound? I'm not trying to cauterize my vagina."

"I'm not going to  _cauterize_  your vagina," Tyler said, his eyes wide with glee. "I swear. I've never done this before, but I'm not gonna lose that much control."

"We lose control over our powers when we're in the heat of the moment, Tyler."

"Trust me, I know. But you said this makes you hot, right? And that's just when I'm doing it on your upper body. I swear it's not gonna get that hot. Just let me try."

Bonnie knew that if she was too nervous about this she would not come. But she supposed if Jeremy could give her his body in service of her magic, then she could give her body to Tyler. Only she never risked  _burning_  Jeremy and giving him permanent tissue damage the times she'd channeled him. But Tyler could also heal her if something went wrong. But the  _pain_  she would suffer before he fully healed her, though…..

She sighed. She held on to Tyler's wrist  _just in case_  and relaxed. She only hoped that if something went wrong she'd react instinctively and give him an aneurysm to get him away from her or something.

"Alright," Tyler said, trying to calm her with his voice. He moved his hand against her vulva and slowly rubbed her clit until she relaxed. He didn't use his power, wanting her to calm down completely first.

Bonnie didn't, of course. She kept waiting for it and scolded her body whenever it wanted to give in and just bask in the feel Tyler's hand.

Tyler moved her head with the arm he had around her and kissed her when she looked at him. She moaned and sighed into the kiss and immediately released his wrist to cup his face. As soon as she did that, he inserted his middled finger.

Bonnie paused in the kiss, but Tyler propelled her to keep kissing him by steadily moving his mouth against her. Bonnie got carried away in the kiss, but it didn't stop her from thinking,  _great, now I_ _'_ _ll burn from the inside out._

But she didn't. Tyler warmed her up, and it didn't escalate into scorching heat that made her sizzle and burn. It  _did_  make her as horny as when he did it to her upper body. And when he removed his finger to rub her clit, she missed it.

He warmed her clit next, and if she could bottle up this heat and take it home with her to use when she was alone, she would. She was positive that if Tyler could sell this, he'd make more money than the people who make those condoms and lubes that heat up on the skin.

Tyler stopped kissing her and asked, "Do you like it?"

He knew she liked it. It was all over his voice, and Bonnie wanted so badly to give him a look to shut down his confidence, but she felt too good, and she'd been wrong, and he'd been right, and she just wanted him to keep doing what he was doing. So she answered, "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes. I like it."

He rewarded her by slipping his finger inside again, and Bonnie slouched her hips on the bench a little to give him more wiggle room. Tyler removed his middle finger and tried for two, stretching her to accommodate him as he went. Bonnie's pussy tensed and released from pure arousal but soon both of Tyler's fingers were in.

Bonnie grabbed his wrist again. "Can you please touch my clit?"

"Please?"

"Please. I want it there, too."

Tyler focused and pulled his power to his entire hand, not just the fingers widening inside her to stretch her. He moved his thumb to her clit and started rubbing it while he stroked in and out of her.

"Oh my God," Bonnie whispered and let her head lull against his. "That feels amazing."

"Mmm," Tyler smiled.

Bonnie looked up and moaned when he seized her lips in a kiss.

Tyler removed his fingers again and stopped pressuring clit in order to cup her again. "You're so wet," he said. "This really does it for you," he said in wonder.

"I told you," Bonnie said. "Put them back in."

Tyler grinned and did as she said. He inserted the two fingers and rubbed her nub with his thumb. He waited on kissing her because he wanted to hear the sound of his fingers going in and out of her sodden cunt.

Bonnie sighed, grateful for the attention. She stroke her left thigh with her own hand. Her right was on Tyler's thigh, and she used it to channel him. He shifted, the sensation going straight to his already hard cock.  _Calm_  was going to be the last thing thing he felt this time.

Tyler kissed her and the sound of her wet pussy became background noise.

Bonnie found that being fingered felt different from being eaten. It was still good, it all still led to orgasm, and she  _was_  having Tyler play with her clit while he fingered her. But she found that it took her longer to orgasm from fingering especially since the pressure Tyler's thumb applied to her clit wasn't that much due the the fact that he was using two fingers from the same hand in a completely different motion. And she preferred he keep focusing on those two fingers rather than switch it up and lessen the pressure going in and out of her in favor of the one on her clit. The heat on her clit was enough.

She looked up and saw the clouds moving and grinned like a happy drunk. Tyler took the chance to kiss her neck. He licked up her throat, which made her moan, and then he nibbled on the left side of her neck when she turned her head to bury her face in his collarbone.

Tyler made her feel everything she'd successfully blocked herself from thinking about over the summer, and Bonnie emitted every moan, sigh, and breathy encouragement he'd fantasized about her emitting since they started working together to protect his life, and when she came  _he_  was the one who said  _her_  name as she puffed her warm breath into his neck. The sensation made Tyler feel like she'd suddenly stolen his power and was breathing it back against his neck.

Bonnie expelled a violent breath that marked the end of her orgasm. "Oh wow," she commented and chuckled self-consciously.

She put steading hands on the bench to fix herself but then looked down when she felt Tyler slowly removing his moist fingers. Tyler's his eyes never left her face. He used both fingers to slowly rub her clit, and Bonnie closed her eyes.

"How was that?" Tyler asked.

"Really good," Bonnie answered lazily as a smile spread over her face.

Tyler removed his fingers and sucked them clean. He missed her taste. He rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth to savor it. "You liked it?"

Bonnie looked at him, because she could tell that he knew that she liked it. He just wanted to hear her say it. And it turned her on. But when she looked at him his eyes were glowing, glowing because of her, because of what he was making her feel, what he was doing to her and how it was making him feel in return. His eyes were gold because of all that he wanted to do to her, and the raw lust that shined in his spellbinding orbs compelled Bonnie to kiss him. She grabbed his head and kissed him hard.

Tyler kissed her back, forcing himself onto her as much as she was forcing herself onto him. He never knew he could affect Bonnie Bennett this much. She was practically climbing on top of him.

Bonnie wanted to be naked, needed to be naked with Tyler's hands all over her. She didn't want a single inch of her left untouched. Unfortunately for her, they were seated on a hard bench behind his house while a party roared on some feet away. She had to settle for him fondling her breasts.

"How far are we taking this?" Tyler finally asked.

Bonnie licked her lips and stood. She walked in front of Tyler and pulled her dress down to its actual length.

Intrigued, Tyler watched.

Bonnie bent slightly and softly dragged her fingers over her thighs, starting just below the hemline. When she reached it, she curled her fingers around it and hiked it up, her movement still slow. She did a little jiggle to get it around her waist. Once it was there, she hooked her fingers in the waistband of her underwear and slipped it right off. She held it out for Tyler to take, a grin that would make the cheshire cat jealous paused on her face.

Tyler's chest collapsed when he grinned and exhaled. He slowly licked his lips as he looked at her. If someone had told him over the summer that Bonnie Bennett would literally hand him her underwear before the year was over, he would have punched them in the face for messing with his head. Yet there she was. And there he was making her wait. He took time to tuck the picture away, because he now had a Top Two Hottest Things that have happened to him.

Bonnie didn't falter. She raised her eyebrow in question of how long he planned to make her wait, but she didn't lose her composure. He'd made it more than clear that he wanted her, so she had nothing to be insecure about.

Tyler leaned forward and took her offering. When he learned back, he said, "I have a question for you."

Bonnie smiled. "Yes?"

"Would you like to be my date to prom?"

She burst out laughing. "You're asking me to prom."

"Yes."

"While I'm standing like this," she indicated her exposed nether region.

"Yes," Tyler nodded. It was his turn to raise an eyebrow as he waited for her answer.

"Mmmm. It's only November."

"So? There are couples who've already decided they're going to be each other's dates."

"They're couples," Bonnie pointed out.

"So?" he asked, returning to her answer.

Bonnie blinked slowly as she thought. She wanted to ask him about his new buddy, her  _ex_. How was he going to explain taking her to prom to Jeremy? Then again, would her breakup with Jeremy even matter come May? Will he have already moved on to someone else and so won't care what she does with her private life? Will he and Tyler still be friends, or were they just friends for the moment? She hoped they'd still be friends. Jeremy needed a friend. Which brought her back to her answer: the last guy who'd tried to commit to her hadn't fared well in keeping his commitment.

She looked into his beautiful yellow eyes and said, "Ask me when tickets go on sale."

Tickets were set to go on sale the last week of April. Tyler nodded slowly. He supposed that was fair. "Just make sure you save the date," he said.

Bonnie rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. She knew they were getting back to the business at hand when Tyler stuffed her underwear in one of his pockets. She wondered if he was going to keep it, and the moment she wondered she hoped he did.

He sat back when he was done, and Bonnie hiked an eyebrow at him. Tyler chuckled and then drew her attention to his crotch. He unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, and then he did something he hasn't done since the fourth grade when the cutest girl in his class had asked to see if his "boy thing" looked like the one she'd accidentally seen on tv late one night: he pulled his penis out while a girl just stood there and watched.

Unlike that girl, Bonnie didn't stand in shocked silence at seeing a real life penis before commenting that it's not as big as the man's she saw on tv and then asking if she could touch it. Bonnie sidled up to him and placed both hands on his thighs. He realized what she was about to do before she did it. She grabbed his length and channeled him directly, sweet reimbursement for what he'd done to her before.

Tyler slid down on the bench and groaned loudly, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. It was a profound feeling like he'd never experienced before. It was almost too much, and his control over his power slipped. He gripped the bench too hard; his eye color changed back to normal; the world regained color before it became grey again when his eyes changed back. He looked at Bonnie and the potent magical energy swirling around her and cried out as her power continued to course through him, dashing and shifting, rooting itself before uprooting and jutting out to create the fog that neither noticed forming around them.

Bonnie grinned with her teeth clenched together, a sign of her craving more of Tyler's submission. She rubbed her hands up and down his cock, pumping the aroused flesh. She channeled him again at the tip and took more this time, and this time Tyler's head snapped forward and his canines came out, and he growled at her. A werewolf completely at her mercy and fumbling for control. He didn't scare her. Not when it clearly felt so good that he let his head fall back again and lifted his hips, lifted them into her generous hand.

The power Bonnie took from him teased and woke her base nature. She felt that reckless feeling again, the desire to go after what she wanted. It made her feel that the man in whose power she played was the only one who could fulfill whatever need or want she had. And right now her need was carnal, and right now she wanted him in her.

She let him go, and Tyler didn't notice at first. There was a leftover; her power lingered; his dick twitched like it was in search of her giving hand, and it fascinated Bonnie.

The feeling passed, and Tyler looked at her. He was out of breath. "I want more," he said without preamble.

"After."

"After what?"

Bonnie smiled, her eyes falling to his lips as she swayed her bare ass in the cool night air. "It felt good, didn't it."

"You have no idea."

He looked like he wanted to ravish her, and Bonnie's excitement knew no bounds. She straighted and turned around. Tyler grabbed her immediately and kissed her ass like he wanted to leave imprints of his lips all over it. Bonnie was literally getting her ass kissed after making him feel amazing, and she imagined he was thanking her. It  _felt_  like he was thanking her, and she clasped both of her hands to her chest and smiled up at the sky and bent her ass in his direction to better allow him to express his gratitude.

Tyler lowered his kisses because her pussy became more accessible when she bent over. He licked her opening, and slowly inserted his tongue. Bonnie gasped, and her eyes widened when he started fucking her with her tongue. His wet tongue fit perfectly with her wet pussy, and she widened her stance to get more. Tyler widened his tongue inside her and wiggled the tip, and Bonnie moaned low and long. Tyler slipped his tongue out and latched on to her clit, sucking it in his mouth like it held all the nourishment he needed.

"Now, Ty," Bonnie moaned. Then she forgot what she wanted to say. For the first time she saw the fog, the magic she and Tyler had created. She looked up and the sky was still cloudy, yet it was like the clouds had descended to earth, all while Tyler held her clit hostage in his torturous mouth.

Bonnie pulled away from him, moved forward and stole her clit from his searching lips. Turning, she whimpered, "I want it now, Ty."

"You want what?" Tyler asked. She knew the game by now.

" _That_ ," she said and pointed at his crotch with her eyes.

"Come here," he said. He needed to drive her, but he could save that for another time. When she was close enough he kissed her mound and then turned her around and pulled her hips down.

Bonnie bit her lip and looked down between her legs and grabbed his dick. She placed one hand between their legs to balance herself. She's never been on top before, but she was looking forward to rocking them to nirvana.

"We don't have any condoms," Tyler said suddenly when she placed his tip at her entrance.

"That's fine," Bonnie said and held her breath while her words hung in the air. "Isn't it?"

Tyler was silent a moment. "Are you on something?"

"Nothing."

"Do you want—-" she started to get up, but Tyler tightened his hold on her hips and pulled her back into position.

"Do I want what?" he asked.

"To go….all the way inside the house….through all those people…..and grab a condom?"

He smiled. She was making it sound like stopping for a condom right now was the worst idea ever.

It was stupid. Bonnie knew it was stupid and risky and everything she was told not to do. But she seriously did not want Tyler to walk all the way back to his house while she waited on the bench completely without underwear.

And Tyler knew it was stupid. He wanted to say that she may not be on any protection but she was definitely on something alcoholic to be talking like this. But there was a reason he'd pulled her back down. He wanted to hear her say that she'd risk going without protection. Because he was perfectly willing to. He didn't want to stop either. She was so close and so sexy, and they were so near joining together and knowing what that felt like.

Bonnie bit her lip through her grin when he didn't respond and resumed sitting on his dick. She wanted to cry at the promise of what was to come when she penetrated herself with the head of his dick. She took him in inch by inch, wincing and stopping to give herself time to adjust here and there. She hadn't had sex in almost five months.

It was torture for Tyler, one he couldn't decide if he wanted to end or continue. The feeling of her covering him inch by inch, stopping, pulling up a little, and then continuing is one he couldn't try to describe. It felt like his future depended on her taking her time to do this.

Once she was firmly sitting on him, he readjusted his hold on her hips and surrendered himself to her. Bonnie lifted, supporting herself on the bench, and slowly sat back down, her eyes closed as she reaped the satisfaction of him filling her up. Tyler's throat was parched when she started to rock back and forth, slow at first and gradually building. She widened her hips then snapped it closed when she rocked forward, over and over again, and he swore he could die right now, no need to even orgasm, and want for nothing. The climb up to the fall was that sweet. Being with Bonnie tonight, like this, taught him that he could absolutely enjoy the anticipation and the buildup of it all. Not that he wasn't into foreplay, but he'd never been into it like this. And he'd definitely never been into torturously slow.

Bonnie circled her hips and wound on top of him, figuring that this was just like dancing. And she knew how to use her hips when dancing. She made complete strokes every time, backward and forward, no half-assing it. She got in touch with the full spectrum of her hips, there in the dark of night shielded by white fog with people mere feet away. Even when she sped up in search of the peak, she didn't falter in the thoroughness of her movements.

Tyler held steady to her hips, eyes glued to the curves of her butt and imagined this was what Caroline and Vicky had felt when he took the time to stroke in long and deep. The time he'd taken on Bonnie, teasing her and bringing her to climax, all of it had been foreplay for him, all of it had been stoking his own orgasm, so he came first. He wanted to tell Bonnie he was coming, wanted to warn her so that maybe she'd get off of him and let him finish himself off. Instead he made his own gamble. Bonnie had waved off protection and he did so now. Just like she hadn't wanted to disrupt their groove to allow him to go back into the house for a condom, now, too, he did not want to disconnect from her, didn't want to lose her warmth. He couldn't help groaning louder and faster as he got closer, and when he came he did it on a curse. And Bonnie stayed the course.

Virile energy poured from him and flowed into Bonnie as he infused her with his powers. The effect drove Bonnie out of her mind. She rode Tyler like the act would bring her salvation. Her head fell back, and she hollered her deliverance to the night sky she'd reformed with him.

* * *

Bonnie and Tyler walked back into the party, and Bonnie bit the inside of her right cheek to contain her smile. She and Tyler had stayed connected until they'd caught their breaths, and then he'd given her her underwear back. Better than him keeping it, he'd told her to put it on and stay just like she was: do not wipe herself at any point during the night. Walking with her crotch full of their combined ejaculation was uncomfortable, but the thrill she felt at following Tyler's direction and sharing with him a secret that no one could possibly guess was worth it.

"Ty! Tyler!"

They turned around and saw Jeremy making their way to them. They shared a subtle glance and then waited for him.

"Hey," Jeremy greeted. Talking to Bonnie outside of working on the device tended to steal his breath away, because he was never sure how relaxed she truly felt around him. He was never sure at what point the hurt and regret would cross her beautiful eyes.

"Hi," Bonnie greeted in kind.

"Hey," Tyler said. "Glad you could make it." He waited for the guilt. It never came. He felt more awkward than guilty. He knew something that Jeremy didn't but would probably very much like to know. He only hoped this never blew up in his face. He could imagine how severely Jeremy would knock his face in if it did.

Jeremy nodded to Tyler and then focused on Bonnie. "You look amazing."

Bonnie's smiled was genuine. Jeremy threw a puzzled look at her frizzy hair, and she smoothed it down and said, "I just came from outside. It's kind of foggy out there."

"Yeah, I saw through the windows."

"How long you been here?" Tyler asked and then immediately regretted it when Jeremy answered.

"Uh, about half an hour? I called you four times and texted."

Tyler almost pulled out his phone to check, but he settled on an apologetic expression at the last minute. "I went upstairs for something and put my phone down. I must've forgotten it."

Jeremy nodded. "Do you wanna dance?" he asked Bonnie brashly.

Bonnie's eyebrows shot up. "Me?"

Jeremy nodded and kept his expectations down.

"No," she said lightly. "But thanks. I'm actually gonna go. Have you seen your sister?"

"Yeah actually she's been looking for you, too. She's in the kitchen, I think."

"Okay, well have fun," Bonnie smiled brightly and turned on her heels and left.

Jeremy's smile slumped as he watched her walk away. She'd looked sincerely happy to see him, which was good. She'd also looked sincerely happy to turn him down and leave, which was not good. He wanted to think she was getting better at faking her heartbreak, but if he was honest he hadn't sensed anything fake there. It was unfair, but he didn't want Bonnie to get over him. He wanted her to stop hurting, but he didn't want her to fall out of love with him.

Tyler nudged Jeremy's arm. "It was a good effort."

Jeremy chuckled self deprecatingly and shook his head. He wished she'd agreed to dance with him. He turned to Tyler and his eyes fell on his hair. It looked just a little bit wet and the same kind of frizzy as Bonnie's. But just as the observation registered in his mind, he glossed over it and let it go.

"I don't suppose you have anything good at this party?"

Tyler smiled because he knew exactly what he meant: pot. "No, dude," he answered. "But I do have expensive alcohol. But we're not getting into that, right? Because this is supposed to be you being out and about and enjoying yourself."

"Right. And I like being high better than being drunk anyway."

Tyler smiled and led him to where the dj was stationed. He'd caught the part about Bonnie leaving. He'd expected her to stay and party with Elena. He wouldn't have all night to smell her, to smell them, to smell himself on her, whenever he wanted.

* * *

Bonnie didn't find Elena in the kitchen. She'd called her after she got there and Elena had testily informed her that she was sitting on the water fountain in front of the mansion.

"Finally!" she exclaimed when Bonnie was within hearing distance. "I called your phone until I got sick."

"Yeah sorry, I just noticed."

"Where were you?"

"Partying," Bonnie answered lightly.

" _Where_? Don't tell me Tyler called his private party and no one bothered to call me."

"Yeah, it was kind of more private than usual? Matt wasn't there or anything."

Elena scoffed.

"So did Caroline really leave?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, and I'm ready to go to."

It occurred to Bonnie to thank her lucky stars that they'd driven two cars. Caroline had brought hers because she'd needed to be at homecoming earlier than her and Elena, and she'd driven her own car and picked up Elena. She did not need Caroline's vampire nose picking up anything.

"What's up with your hair?" Elena asked.

"Uh, a weird fog rolled in. I saw Jeremy."

"Yeah, I saw him, too. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. She was too high from being with Tyler to be brought down by Jeremy's presence.

Elena cocked her head. "Where was the fog? Inside the house?"

Bonnie smiled. "No, outside. In the back of the house."

"Yeah," Elena said thoughtfully. She looked up. "It got really cloudy earlier, too. They all dissipated a couple of minutes before you came out. It was actually really pretty. I took some pictures."

"I slept with Tyler."

Elena snapped her head down. "What did you just say?"

Bonnie's smile was very wide this time. "Well I need to tell  _someone_."

" _Are you crazy?_ " Elena suddenly dropped her voice to a whisper and dragged Bonnie closer to the water fountain and forced her to sit down.

Bonnie shifted and felt the come press against her vagina. She folded her lips. If this kept up she'd be horny all over again.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm not."

"With my brother in there?"

"I have no idea where he was when we were doing it."

Elena slapped her hands to her ears. "I'm not hearing this. Bonnie….oh my God, this is a heartbreak thing. Bon, this isn't the way."

"It's not a heartbreak thing," she chuckled. "It's a me and Tyler thing. I mean yeah, I feel great right now, and it's because of him, whereas I feel like crap whenever I think about Jeremy nowadays, but—-"

"Bonnie—-"

"It's about me and Tyler." She wasn't going to go into how she and Tyler had kind of developed something months before this. She wanted to share a secret, not blab her mouth.

" _Why do you look so calm?_ Oh my God. What about Caroline?"

"What about her?" Bonnie frowned.

"She dated Tyler!"

"And I trust she'll never find out about this?"

Elena lowered her head and shifted to look straight ahead in reaction to being asked to keep a secret. Sure she and Bonnie talked about Caroline sometimes. Well she complained and Bonnie listened, and it wasn't ever anything she wouldn't tell Caroline to her face if push ever came to shove, but they didn't keep  _secrets_. Meanwhile she was sure Caroline had told Bonnie plenty of stuff about her that she'd sworn Bonnie to keep secret, nasty opinions and comments borne of her at times inconvenient insecurity. She only hoped it wasn't anything as big as this. It  _couldn_ _'_ _t_  be anything as big as this.

She didn't like it. She felt a way that she didn't understand at being asked to keep one of her friends' secrets, something that went beyond consideration of her brother's and Caroline's feelings.

"Besides," Bonnie continued, "They only went out for what, a month? Literally, they were nothing when I left in June. I get a call from her at the end of June that they slept together, and then by the middle of July she was telling me that it wasn't working out."

"She still  _liked_  him," Elena defended on Caroline's behalf.

"I'm not saying she didn't, but what's a month?"

"Oh my God, who  _are_  you right now?" It was a question she'd thought of in regards to Bonnie many times before now. She and Tyler had never really been friends, though they ran in the same circle, but getting the news from her  _uncle_ , not even Bonnie, but her  _uncle_  that Bonnie and Tyler had killed Stefan together….that had shifted something inside of her. It'd been one thing for Bonnie to not want to do anything to help Damon fight Tyler's poison. That had stung a lot, but she'd dealt with it as much as she could, sometimes cursing Damon in death for not doing better to earn Bonnie's good will while he was alive. It might have saved his life. But Stefan? He'd been nothing but nice to Bonnie. His compliance where his brother was concerned was something that couldn't be helped. She would feel the same way if it was her brother in question.

But she hadn't learned until Stefan had been torn to pieces by Tyler's teeth that he'd been stalking Tyler in a quest to avenge his brother. Bonnie should've told her. She would never feel different about the matter: Bonnie  _should_  have told her. She should have  _at the very least_ simply contained Stefan until they could get through to him. She'd gotten through to Stefan before; she'd kept him from walking into the sunlight after his blood bender; it could be done. And knowing what Bonnie and Tyler had accomplished together, they could have done it. They could have opted for something less severe, less permanent. Stefan didn't mean anything to Tyler, but he should have meant something to Bonnie because Bonnie knew how much he'd meant to  _her_. He was only grieving his brother; that was completely understandable as far as she was concerned.

She'd thought about it less and less as she'd gotten more and more into training with John, but now, listening to how flippant Bonnie sounded,  _seeing_  how fresh she looked, she couldn't help but think about the contrast. Bonnie was free whereas before she'd been walking around like she lugged the world on her shoulders, the odd man out. Yes, she was heartbroken but she still didn't look as downtrodden as she did before. And Elena had never noticed that she looked downtrodden until….until this very moment. Her friend was happy, if irresponsible and careless at the moment. And she….she felt empty, hurt and bereft. Her life could've been different if Stefan and Damon had lived, but now she felt like she was missing two pivotal pillars. And faced with Bonnie's glow, she couldn't help but think about how different her own life might've been had Stefan and Damon lived. Would she be the one glowing?

"How about I go wait in the car and you come join me when you're talking less crazy," Elena said.

Bonnie handed her the keys and watched her go. She looked up at the cloudless sky and replayed Elena's words. She found the moon. Lunar. Luna. Lunatic. Crazy. She smiled.

What happened to a witch when they channeled a werewolf?


	4. Attack on Bonnie

_Mystic Falls, Present Day_

"Let me get this straight," Jeremy's voice carried across neighborhoods to land in Bonnie's ear as she closed the front door of her house. "You followed Dana by yourself, risked confronting Klaus or God knows who after—-"

He cut himself off.

Bonnie didn't need him to finish. She knew the rest: after what she'd promised yesterday.

In the Gilbert home, Tyler watched Jeremy pace. He'd definitely been with Bonnie recently. What he didn't know was in what capacity. Though he could guess. Or maybe that was him projecting his own recent deed with Bonnie during December's full moon. Watching Jeremy's agitation now, he no longer felt like joking with him about whether or not he'd seen Bonnie, because if Jeremy  _had_ seen her, if they were somehow making headway to….who knows what status they were aiming for….he needed to know how serious they were about it and where he stood with both. Jeremy had promised that the two of them sleeping together wouldn't disturb their friendship, and he still believed him. But would Jeremy and Bonnie sleeping together disrupt their friendship?

"I know what I said, Jer, but in that moment all I could think about was the fact that the guy who fully intended to kill me at the 60s dance, the one succeeded at killing three people the night of the sacrifice, now had Dana in his clutches. I needed to find out if she was okay, if she was meeting him, maybe learn something about this New Year's Eve bash."

Bonnie shrugged off her coat and turned to see her father listening to her conversation from the bottom of the stairs. She mentally cursed herself. It was one thing for her father to know she was going to ring in the new year with the vampire who tried to kill her, and it was another for him to hear her say it. Bonnie grimaced apologetically at him and then focused on the conversation.

"What were you gonna do if she  _had_  gone straight to him?" Jeremy asked. He couldn't stop pacing. He was angry with her, and he was relieved that nothing had happened, and he was scared over what could've happened.

"I didn't really have a plan," Bonnie confessed. "I'd just get her out of there. But I had to leave her on her own when I realized I was gonna pull into Klaus' driveway."

" _You went to the house?!"_ Jeremy and John bellowed simultaneously. "Bonnie, you could've gotten kidnapped!" Jeremy continued solo.

Bonnie winced. "I  _know_. I didn't pull in. I followed her all over town. I think she was running errands for the party. It's not like I drive by the mansion every day. I didn't realize where I was—"

"Until it was almost too late," Jeremy huffed.

Elena frowned as she watched her brother.

"I'm  _fine_ ," Bonnie stressed. She wanted to calm Jeremy down.

"How  _is_ Dana?" Tyler asked.

"Compelled," Bonnie said. "She looked a little too happy to be going into every store."

"Did you see the blonde woman?" Elena asked.

"No," Bonnie answered.

"But we don't know if she saw you," Tyler said.

Bonnie sighed. She didn't need Tyler giving Jeremy more (totally reasonable) reason to fret.

"Um," Caroline spoke up, "I'm leaving Matt's place now." Everyone listened to her get into her car. "He still hates us for knowing about Vicky and not telling him—-"

"Most of us," Tyler pointed out. Matt had no problem with him. He himself hadn't learned the truth surrounding Vicky's death until Jeremy had explained everything.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "But he's compulsion free. He's been drinking vervain religiously. He plans on ringing in the new year alone."

No one felt that Matt should be alone during the last minutes of the year. Everyone knew he was going to spend it thinking about Vicky, replaying those moments when he could talk to her through Jeremy. But they were all relieved at the fact that staying home meant Matt wasn't going to be anywhere near vampires. He knew now to stick to the golden rule: don't invite strangers into your house.

"How are you going to skip out on your parents'—I mean your mom's New Year's Party? That party happens every year," Elena said to Tyler.

"I'm not," Tyler answered, his grudge against sharing this information with the whole group showing in the flexing of his jaw and the bounce in his stance. "It's the first new year without my dad. My mom doesn't feel like throwing a party."

"Oh my God," Bonnie said as she sat heavily on the couch. "You have to bail on her?"

"That sucks," Caroline said.

"Maybe you shouldn't come," Jeremy said while simultaneously wishing he was having a private conversation with Bonnie. He was still stuck on her following someone she  _knew_  was under Klaus' thumb  _by herself_.

"I'm going. We don't know how Klaus will react if I don't. He sent each of those invitations for a reason."

"You're not going to be able to explain it to your mom," Elena said.

"I know," Tyler responded more sharply than necessary.

"I'll go," John said. "I'll go; I'll show up before you have to leave, and then I'll suggest you go hang out with your friends. She should be up for it."

Tyler knew she would be. Carol was up for anything that made her feel Tyler was adjusting well without his father. The only problem with John's plan was that Tyler actually wanted to be home with his mother when the new year came.

"It'll work," Tyler said.

Bonnie turned around on the couch. Her father stood in the same spot, the same worried look on his face. She faced forward and mentally hurried this meeting along.

"Okay, the plan, "John continued. "We need to be open to the fact that Klaus most likely has more surprises up his sleeve, more people that he's compelled. Matt's not one, but there could be others."

"Are we focusing on the part where he sent someone to talk to Bonnie and no one else?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes," John assured him.

Bonnie voiced something that had nagged at her during her drive back. She'd told them about her conversation with Dana, and now she repeated one specific part of it. "I asked Dana who else was invited to the party, and she said just me. Just me."

"You think that means something?" Caroline asked.

"I do," Bonnie said reflectively.

"Which means we were right," Jeremy said to Bonnie, "Those two attacks were deliberate."

"Wait, two attacks?" Tyler asked the question for everyone else. "I thought it was just one. When did the other happen?"

Jeremy let Bonnie answer.

"Yesterday."

* * *

_Yesterday_

Jeremy sunk into the water with a prolonged groan.

Bonnie gritted her teeth in sympathy. "Okay," she said and kneeled by the bathtub. "You should feel better by the time we're done. This should be better than actual physical therapy."

They were making this up on the fly. Jeremy had called her last night and told her he was stiff as a board. He was stumped by the fact that he was only  _now_  getting sore. The vampire hoard had ambushed them at the witches' house a full three days ago.

Bonnie had called him earlier today after she'd appeared home and gotten her bearings and at the end of their conversation she'd asked if he was feeling better, and he'd told her was feeling worse, barely able to move, so she'd told him she was coming over.

"Is the water hot enough?" She asked.

"Not really," Jeremy answered.

Bonnie was running him a hot bath, remembering from her active cheerleading days that heat was good for sore muscles. Now she dipped her hand in the water and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath to concentrate because what she  _didn't_ want to do was set the water aflame. She just wanted to heat it up. Moderation.

She exhaled and felt the power flow out of her. "Say when," she said softly. The water in the tub flowed against her hand. She felt no actual heat on her hand, just water and energy, which is why she needed Jeremy to tell her when to stop.

"Stop," Jeremy instructed, his eyes trained on her face. "It's good."

She looked at him and he could tell she was feeling the effect of using her magic, of connecting with two elements. She looked just a little bit happy, her eyes just a little bit out of focus. She smiled warmly at him.

Bonnie gathered some water in her free hand and dripped it over his chest. She repeated the movement like a mantra, not really thinking about what she was doing and not realizing that she needed the comfort, not only because of the attack three days ago but the attack she'd suffered today. Alone.

"I want you to promise me you won't go back there by yourself," Jeremy said.

"Trust me, I don't have a death wish."

Jeremy hooked his index finger under her chin and made her look at him.

"I'm okay," she said quietly, barely able to utter the words, because Jeremy's touch compared to the touch of all those vampires... "I went back there to protect the house. To cast a spell. It's been three days; I didn't think..." She shivered, and she smelled dirt when she inhaled and suddenly it was on her skin, as if she hadn't scrubbed herself clean earlier.

* * *

_That Morning_

Her stomach twisted as soon as she stepped foot into the old foyer. She tried to chuck it up to memory. It was simply a reaction to what happened three days ago. So she kept walking in, but the shadows looked a little too dark, a little too full, a little too...alive. And that's when she heard a hiss. It came from below, like it was crouching.

" _Shit,_ " she forced out between clenched teeth.

The house seemed to take a deep breath in hungry anticipation.  _Vampires_. In the scariest sense of the word. These didn't look like they could  _ever_  blend into society. Undergrounders, John had called them. John had taught them about the different classes of vampires, and vampires, hunters, werewolves, and witches acknowledged the labels. There were Nightwalkers, commonly just called vampires. They were the ones confined to the night. They were the second most numerous. Definitely the most visible. They killed and turned the most people. The very few who had daylight jewelry were called Daywalkers. The oldest and believed to be the most numerous yet rarely seen were the Undergrounders. They were identified by skin thin and fragile in appearance and covered with spider veins. Some were pimpled with additional varicose veins. Their eyes no longer varied in color. They were either blood-shot red or covered by cataracts. Centuries of living in absolute darkness had dulled their irises as well as their eyesight. They were too old to bother turning humans. No one was sure if they still had the ability. Turning humans implied an interest in life. Undergrounders were interested in feeding and killing. They had no need to worry about their numbers. Most Nightwalkers would become Undergrounders and few of them had any idea.

They had great vision in the dark, but their strength in navigation came from their ears and nose.

They smelled Bonnie as soon as she walked in, and when her panic kicked in, the sound of the blood rushing through her veins drove them mad. O-positive witch blood.

The house exhaled and six vampires set upon Bonnie.

She didn't scream, but she couldn't hide the fear in her eyes or the alarm radiating off of her taunt body.

" _Incendia!"_ she commanded, and the candles in the foyer lit up at the same time that she turned to the door to make a run for it.

A vampire lunged at her and she threw her right hand out and sent him crashing into the wall. There was no Jeremy this time, no one else with whom they could distract themselves. They weren't going to split up, one faction trying to kill Jeremy upstairs while the other drove her down to the basement where the old house was darkest.

Jeremy wasn't here and she remembered what it felt like when they touched her, their agony, their rabid hunger, their  _age,_ their loneliness, their disorientation, their  _death._  All of it was psychic energy, and they meant to torture her with it. She'd almost died three days ago from the potent combination of their death and disorientation at living for so long and slowly, very slowly, losing their humanity in behavior, looks, and instinct. It had clawed at her sanity and begged her to leave herself, leave her present and delve deeper into their lives, what it was now and what it was then. And bereft of any psychic defenses, she'd delved. She hadn't been able to help it. Only the pain of two sets of fangs digging into her right shoulder and her left arm had shocked her out of it  _enough_  that she could fight back. She'd been confused and disoriented, her brain still trying to delve deeper into their experiences, but she'd fought back. And she'd shrieked at the top of her lungs for Jeremy, for him to help her, for him to hear her. Screaming his name had also aided her in staying in the present and in her own mind.

She couldn't go through that again, didn't think she'd survive it. She was dead if even one of them laid their ice cold, papery hands on her. She needed to get outside.

A wave of undead energy beat at her back. She ran faster than she'd ever had, and she broke into the light. She stopped for just a second to turn around, before her peripheral vision caught the horrifying sight of the vampires charging out into the sunlight. She screamed and resumed running. Her heart beat even faster when she realized they weren't using their speed to catch up to her and tear her apart. They ran at a normal pace, so whether or not she kept her head-start depended on pure luck.

She ducked her head and gritted her teeth and almost covered her ears when the first agonized cry attacked her ear. She threw a frenzied look behind her and saw that two of them had caught on fire. And they still ran after her.

" _Fuck!_ " She willed her legs to move faster. She needed to tell Jeremy about this. She needed to tell someone. She needed to  _live_.

She wasn't gunning for her car. She'd parked at the side of the house, so she'd long left it. She realized she didn't know where she was running to, and she needed to run to  _somewhere._ She couldn't keep running until they all burned to death.

Legs burning, she looked behind her and saw three were on fire. The first two had fallen to burn to ashes, their limbs too weakened by the fire to run anymore. She turned her head forward just as the sixth caught on fire.

" _Patefacia!"_ she commanded, staring at the ground as her feet ate more dirt. Heart-stopping roars rose behind her, and she pictured their fangs were bared. They knew she was trying to magic herself away. They knew they were losing their chance to kill her.

" _Domus ego tollite!"_ she tried breathlessly when nothing happened. " _Patefacia, Patefacia, Patefacia!"_

She looked behind her again. It seemed like the last four were  _not_  going to slow down.

She looked forward, and her mistake dawned on her. She was commanding conflicting elements. She was concentrating on the earth yet saying ' _carry_ me home.' The ground can't  _carry_ her anywhere.

" _Domus ego adtrecto! Patefacia!_ "

She was suddenly pushed by an unseen energy, and her heart sped up at the thought that she was going to fall, that she was going to slow down and they were going to catch her. And fall she did. She fell forward straight into the earth which gave way before her knees impacted.

She screamed when she fell into dirt before shock rendered her mute. All was dark and she was so out of sorts that she didn't realize she was falling home until her breath was forced out of her lungs when her stomach hit the living room floor.

Stunned, she slowly braced her arms so she could sit up, small rocks, leaves, and specks of dirt raining on the wooden floor. She suddenly turned on her back when she heard an agonized scream and let out a yell that rivaled the burning vampire's when she saw her falling into the ceiling, about to crash into her. She crossed her arms over her eyes and missed the activation of the supernatural barrier that kept her from entering her home without an invitation. She was thrown back from the whole and burned to death on the forest floor.

Bonnie scrambled on her butt and crawled backwards when another vampire's scream sounded farther away.

She didn't hear her father's anxious yelling of her name until he was shaking her.

"What?" she asked, adrenaline distorting her voice. Her chest heaved, and her skin crawled where Rudy touched her.

" _Close it!_  You have to close what you opened so they can't try to come through."

She rummaged through all the magic words in her brain for a closing spell. She spent so much time studying the composition of spells that it was getting easier for her to make one up on the spot, despite her flub on the arrangement of the words earlier.

" _Untrinque fit, ut ante fuit._ "

The ceiling slowly closed and she sagged into Rudy's chest, shaking and dirty.

* * *

_Yesterday_

"Bonnie," Jeremy said. The water had turned cold enough to make him shiver.

"Sorry," Bonnie said as she came out of her reverie. She flexed her hands in the water and realized her discomfort at the attack had imbued it with coolness. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Okay," Jeremy said when the water got warm again. He still cupped her face.

"They were looking for me," Bonnie said when she opened her eyes.

"What?"

She nodded. "They were after me. The one that fell in...I looked straight into her eyes when I turned around, and I saw this…..desire...to protect Klaus."

"Klaus?" Jeremy said, dropping his hand from her face and sitting up straighter.

Bonnie resumed running the water over his chest.

"As in the guy who...killed Jenna? What's he got to do with this?"

"I don't know. But she wanted to protect him. To take me out to make him safer."

"But you haven't thought about him since the day he was here."

They both knew that wasn't true. With the possibility that he was the one picking off the werewolves, Bonnie had been doing a lot of thinking about Klaus.

"I did almost stop his ritual from happening. He thought I was dead once. Maybe he doesn't like the idea of me walking around at the same time he is."

"Bonnie," Jeremy said softly. Her eyes were heavy when she looked at him. "Did they touch you?"

"No," she said. "I wouldn't be here if they had. But I felt their... _energy_. It was almost as bad as them touching me. And it's making me think about the last time." She closed her eyes and heard Jeremy hiss and jerk in the water.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Jeremy gritted his teeth against the pain. "Uh...nothing. Just...the water dripping from your fingers. It got a little hot. A lot hot."

Bonnie turned her wet palm up and saw steam rising from it. "Oh my God," she exclaimed, her voice firm for the first time since she'd run the water for Jeremy. "I'm  _so_  sorry."

Jeremy shook his head.

"I'm  _sorry_. Are you okay? God, I need to pay attention."

" _It wasn't that bad,_ " Jeremy emphasized. He smiled when she looked at him. "Swear."

Bonnie smiled. She missed the days when him worrying about her and caring this much about her meant she could kiss him. She'd watched him call on incredible strength to snap the neck of what must have been a centuries old vampire when he'd finally stumbled his way down to the basement sporting considerable bites and bruises.

"So the first ambush wasn't an accident after all," Jeremy said. "You can't go back to that house," he repeated.

"I promise." She almost voiced her next thought but decided against it. Still, Jeremy was thinking along the same lines.

"That doesn't solve the problem of them wanting you, though. If they want you, then they'll find a way. It's not like the house is the only dark place in Mystic Falls."

"So what I need a bodyguard now?"

"If that's what it takes," he answered, and Bonnie didn't need to ask if he was volunteering. The protectiveness edge of his face spoke volumes. Bonnie smiled and when she let the water trickle down his chest this time, she traced the path of one droplet and stopped just above the waistband of his shorts.

"Sorry," she apologized distantly, though she didn't take her hand away. He was bigger than he used to be, the reward for spending hours working out. She'd been surprised by it when she'd seen him after summer vacation. He'd taken his shirt off for her here and there while she'd been in Georgia but seeing it in person had been something else. She'd told him that she wasn't sure how she felt about his new size. Then he'd taken his shirt off and she'd chuckled and said maybe she could get used to it and had immediately started feeling up his pecks. Then she'd broken up with him.

"It's fine," he answered as he drank in her expression. She wasn't feeling okay, that was clear. She'd been inconsolable after the first attack.

Bonnie pressed harder against his body. "What do we do?" she asked.

Jeremy cupped her face and made her look at him. "We do nothing. Not yet. You're freaking out about the attack."

"I'm not used to being attacked." She's fought vampires, taken them down both through team work and by herself. But she has never been a target, not like this. She has never been ambushed. "We need to take care of you," she said.

"No, I think we need to take care of you," Jeremy said softly. She'd made it out fine physically this time, but emotionally and mentally the vampires' touches were messing with her. "What do you need?" he asked.

Bonnie was stumped. She knew what she needed, mentally and emotionally. She knew what she needed to feel. But it took some work to voice it. "Life."

He was a hair's breath away, so she kissed him.

Jeremy had been thinking about kissing her. He'd been thinking about holding her, anything physical to let her know that he was here, that she'd made it out, that she was okay now. He'd settled for cupping her cheek. But she was kissing him now, and he didn't know how long it would last, if she was just in a quick state and was going to snap out of it and apologize, so he poured everything in the kiss. He tried to create as much of a safety net as he could.

Bonnie was overwhelmed by the contact, so much so that she almost climbed inside the bathtub to join him. But she needed more than this, and she only hoped that they were building to it.

Jeremy hissed and broke the kiss. He yanked her palm away from his chest.

"What? Oh my God, I'm sorry."

He chuckled even though the pain lingered. "Are you sure this is still an accident?" he asked breathlessly.

Bonnie was speechless, because he didn't look opposed to the idea that it might not be. "It was an accident. But….do….do you want it to not be?" She avoided his eyes and looked down at the fist she'd made on the side of the tub. "I need to channel. I need to feel that life. I need that energy."

Jeremy noted the distressed frown lines on her forehead. "Then do it," he said.

Bonnie raised her eyes. She stared at him long enough to realize that he'd just undone three months' work of her trying to stop loving him.

* * *

Jeremy desperately clung to his sheets with his hands and teeth as Bonnie laid siege on his back. They'd moved from the bathtub to his bed, and he'd changed to a pair of dry basketball shorts, and now he lewdly humped his bed as Bonnie straddled his butt and burned his upper back. She'd been slowly making her way up from his waist, and it was almost over. A damn shame.

Bonnie dipped her hands into the bowl of water she'd brought to his dresser and laid her hands on his right shoulder blade. Her palms tingled as she warmed him up to burning. She'd started on his left lower back and steadily made her way up, then moved to his middle lower back and slowly made her way up, then his right lower back, and now she was regretfully at the top. But the journey had been unforgettable. She gave him reprieve by channeling him after each new burn mark. They were on the pain part right now, and they were in unison as he rocked his erection against the bed, and she rocked against his ass.

Bonnie was as wet as he was hard. She didn't need to  _burn_  him to feel life. Channeling him would've been enough, but he'd told her point blank that he'd rather the burns not be an accident, and she liked that he liked the pain. Intermittent channeling and her arousal had chased away the crawling feeling of death her encounter with the vampires had left her with.

Jeremy sweated as Bonnie seared his skin. The back of his ears prickled from the heat on his body. He groaned and raised his hips off the bed. Bonnie chuckled and humped him faster, and he laughed at how much she was enjoying this before it dissolved into a hard moan. " _Now,_ " he said tremblingly when his shoulder burned too much.

Bonnie channeled him immediately and not for the first time the swift change from pain to pleasure made Jeremy's dick twitch in the confined space between his body and the bed. Bonnie was lowered as all of the tension from withstanding the pain left his body and he sagged into the mattress. She leaned forward and kissed the spot like she'd started doing on the third burn mark.

"Better?" she prodded.

"Yes," he panted.

She smiled and placed a kiss on his neck. It was painted a nice blush pink from her experimenting on his body, and it made her wonder if his face was just as flushed. "Are you okay?" she asked not for the first time.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "It's good. Really good." That earned him another kiss on the same spot on his neck. "Take off your pants," he labored. Surely she wouldn't object after all the grinding she'd been doing on his butt. Was it possible for her to mark his back and then walk away like it was nothing?

It wasn't possible. Bonnie dismounted him and stood on the bed to strip completely naked. Jeremy flinched through the pain and rose up on his elbows to turn his head and watch her undress. Bonnie was amused by his effort. "You need to strip, too," she said. "I can help," she said when he started to struggle.

"No," he said quickly. She didn't need to see how wet the front of his gym shorts were. The degree to which this entire exercise turned him on was truly ridiculous. "I got it." He put his forehead on the bed and raised his lower half to take the shorts off. By the time he was done, his back was  _stinging_. "Channel me. Please," he huffed.

Bonnie quickly got down and did what he needed. "I can take some of the pain away," she suggested. They were done now; there was no need for him to  _actually_  suffer. This was supposed to be fun. Maybe a little weird,  _definitely_ kinky, but fun. He couldn't go about his day to day life with a mangled back.

But Jeremy shot the idea down. In order to take pain away, Bonnie had to take it onto herself, and he was not going to have that. His most vivid memory of her taking pain away was when she took on Elena's wounds during the sacrifice. Klaus had taken enough blood to kill her, but by the time it was all said and done and Elijah had rushed Klaus out of the clearing, Elena had still had a faint and fading heartbeat. Stefan had heard it. Bonnie had tried to fix it.

He hadn't seen it, of course, since she'd knocked him unconscious, but he'd found out when he'd woken to learn Bonnie was passed out from a severe neck wound. The witches had taken their powers back while Bonnie was in the middle of the spell. She had been fine at the beginning of the spell, barely feeling the pain as she raced to bring Elena back before her heart gave out. When the witches wrenched the powers from her, the spell turned deadly for her. The wound spread fast on her neck, and Stefan and Damon were so quick to take Bonnie's place when she stumbled away from Elena in utter shock at what was happening to her that neither noticed that she was suddenly gravely injured until she gasped in panicked fear and collapsed.

Damon's blood had healed her.

Jeremy had been  _pissed_.

* * *

_To Love Bonnie Bennett_

It was bad enough she'd betrayed him and with a  _kiss_  of all things. She'd almost gotten herself killed to top it all off.

"Damon could've healed her! Or Stefan!" For the life of him, he could not bring his voice down, and he could not stop pacing in her bedroom. She lay on the bed looking frail, more from being shaken by the experience than any physical after-effects.

"Do you really think that was on my mind? Stefan said he heard a heartbeat and before he could do anything I just moved. I did what first came to mind. I honestly….I forgot all about them and what they could do. She was  _barely_  hanging on to life, and my first thought was that I was the only one who could save her."

Bonnie wished he'd stopped pacing. He was making her queasy.

"Right," Jeremy responded, "Because it's your responsibility to save everyone, Bonnie, consequences be damned. This is your calling. That's what you said, right?"

"Are you patronizing me right now?"

"Nope. This is what you do. You risked your life to save Elena. You risked  _your_  life to save Elena." Jeremy wiped his mouth and walked out of her bedroom, because he honestly couldn't think of anything else to say, and he could feel his chest tightening.

"Jeremy. Jeremy!"

Bonnie called after him, but he didn't come back. He didn't leave the house, but he stayed downstairs for a while, long enough for him to cool down. When he came back up, he found her curled on the bed and staring out of her window. He climbed in and spooned her.

"I wasn't trying to get myself killed, you know," Bonnie said.

"I know," he responded.

He only half believed her, but he didn't know how to say it. He didn't know how to tell her to slow down for his sake. He only knew the crippling fear he felt whenever he thought about the risks she took. With Jenna dead, her risks took an extra hard toll on his nerves.

And a month and a half later he took refuge in the girl that was already dead.

* * *

_Yesterday_

"You're not taking this on, Bonnie," Jeremy said.

"I didn't mean take on the burns," Bonnie assured him. "I meant cast a spell to promote healing. You'd still hurt, but it would fade gradually, not completely, over the course of the night. I can't sleep here overnight and channel you. My dad's home, and I don't know how John would feel about it, not to mention your sister. I don't want you to be in pain."

"It's fine," he huffed. "Think of it as a mark. I want to wear it."

Bonnie smiled. Memories of another mark knocked on her brain, the hickey he'd sported from his trip to Miami. Is that why he hadn't bothered to cover it up? Because he'd wanted to wear it? Bonnie kept the door closed and turned the memory away.

"You're here now," Jeremy continued with a smile. "You can channel me now." With some effort, he sat up so he could face her.

"Yes, I can," Bonnie said provocatively. She had her answer about the shade of his face. It was almost as flushed as his back.

Jeremy reached for her and pulled her into a kiss. There was definitely something wrong with him. He'd been with Tyler two Sundays ago, watching avidly as he worked off leftover adrenaline from the previous night's full moon on his cock. Jeremy had spent half the day looking forward to it. Tyler had transitioned the night before with Bonnie standing guard, but he'd called him up the next morning to tell him how it went and he'd asked if he could see him in the afternoon. He'd worked Tyler up and then made him wait while he got his.

He'd been hard and ready for Tyler two Sundays ago, telling the pent-up werewolf what he liked, where to lick and where to linger, and now he wanted nothing more then to watch Bonnie come and be taken apart by her.

He'd known that he still got turned on by Bonnie. That was such a badly kept secret that Tyler was starting to weave explicit images of her in his ear to help get him off.

But it was another thing to be sitting naked in front of her, kissing her, and feel how  _badly_  he wanted her. That he can go from  _actually_  being with Tyler to  _actually_  being with Bonnie and sincerely look forward to what they were going to do together, that he could actually be turned on by both and crave both…..there was something wrong with him. And it wasn't a situation where Tyler had ceased to exist now that he was with Bonnie. Tyler still existed. And so did Bonnie. He looked forward to his next time with Tyler. And he hoped there would be a next time with Bonnie. Maybe he'd feel weird about it when he wasn't so horny.

"I have condoms in the closet," Jeremy said.

"In the closet?" Bonnie asked incredulously.

He laughed. "Jenna used to snoop around my room. She found my weed, which led to an unnecessary conversation. I wasn't trying to repeat the experience, so I hid the condoms. I haven't really thought about taking them out." A blanket of sadness covered him as he looked at the closet.

He has gotten better, a lot better, but Bonnie now knew from experience with her grandmother's death that it never completely went away. Jenna was the third close relative Jeremy had lost in less than a year.

"I have a better idea," she said softly, and she got his attention and watched him come back to the present.

She bit the inside of her bottom lip, and Jeremy watched her flawlessly go from sexy to adorable and back again when she let her lip go and moved down to straddle his knees.

Bonnie wanted to do this for him because he was the kind of wonderful person who let her scar his back so that she could feel life again. Because he was the kind of wonderful person who was that invested in making her happy. He worried that much about her; he wanted to be her bodyguard; he delivered himself to her and her power and trusted that she knew what she was doing. She was humbled by the level of his trust, and she tried  _very_  hard not to explore the idea that if he could be like this with her, if he cared this much and was this invested, then why the hell had he cheated on her? Unresolved feelings or not, why did he start to build something with her only to cast it away and  _then_  act like the other girl never existed? Because the way he was with her right now, the way they've been for the past forty minutes, it was like he'd never said he loved another girl. He couldn't be doing this because he was a very nice person.  _No one_  was that nice. She loved all of her friends, would do a lot for them, but she would never willingly lay prone while they put her through pain, no matter how much better it would make them feel.

Jeremy couldn't possibly be this nice. Tyler had tasted like the next person who could break her heart, but Jeremy already had, yet here she was, and here  _he_  was making her feel things again.

But she was thinking too much.

Be in the present. Just like he'd done: be in the present.

She kissed his cock and took him into her mouth.

She was at a point in her life where she was proud of her dick sucking ability. She'd certainly driven Tyler wild a couple of times since homecoming, including the following Monday when he'd come knocking at her door after he didn't see her at school, wondering if she was pregnant, and most recently the night of December's full moon.

But this was Jeremy, and she hasn't sucked his dick since Spring when she'd been entering the world of oral sex.

She wasn't worried about not being good, she was simply….She wanted to drive him wild. She wanted to make him whimper and get him to a place where he was unable to contain himself. She wanted to be amazing. She wanted to give him a damn good reason to truly forget he'd ever declared everlasting love for Anna.

But she was back to thinking too much. Nevertheless, she was worked up about sucking his dick now like she was getting ready to come first place in a marathon, like she was on HBO's version of the Bachelor and he would choose the woman who can render him the most incoherent after an orgasm.

Jeremy wasn't prepared for the enthusiasm with which she came at his dick. He saw the change and had no idea where it came from. She'd gone from cool, laid back and dominant seductress to driven, eager, and thirsty for what his dick could give. She sucked his dick with purpose, and he didn't stop her or ask a single question. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to get a full sentence out, because she was making him hiss and moan.

Bonnie made him feel so good and without her magic flowing through him his back stung, and that only added to his eroticism. Though he'd never experimented with pain during any sexual act, he'd thought about it more than once. He was curious. And now his curiosity had been satisfied in a way he couldn't have imagined.

He wanted to lie on his back, but every time he went to do it, his back protested.

Bonnie never once looked up at him. She was focused on her work, the sounds he puffed her guide: when to go faster, when to slow down, when to lick, when to focus on the head. She grinned around a mouth full of dick when he caught a strong grip of her hair thrusted into her mouth. Anna who?

He came on her next stroke, loud and reaching, his grip still strong, his big body jerking, all because of her crooked mouth. She reaped what she'd sowed and swallowed his come.

"Shit.  _Oh_ ," Jeremy croaked. It felt like his body would never stop shaking, like he'd never come out of this orgasm even though he'd stopped ejaculating. And every jerk either stretched his back or coiled the skin together, which brought another level of heat.

Bonnie kissed both of his inner thighs and bit the left one. When she rose, she saw that he was still hard enough. She was impressed and only a little baffled. Mostly, she was flattered, because it was an indicator of how much he wanted her.

"Oh my God." Jeremy lay on his side and curled into the fetal position.

Bonnie smiled. She channeled him and asked, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, eyes closed.

"Come here," he said, before he even got up.

"We can take a break," Bonnie offered.

Through the haze, Jeremy could've sworn he heard smugness. He wanted more than anything to roll onto his back, but he took her offer and caught his breath. When he was ready, he sat up.

"Come here."

Bonnie straddled his thighs and kissed him. Afterward, she dismounted him and followed his direction to the exact hiding spot of the box of condoms. "How are you still hard?" she asked conversationally as she stepped on the desk chair she'd dragged over to rummage on top of the closet.

"I don't know," Jeremy drawled distractedly. It wasn't the most sophisticated answer. It wasn't the answer he would've said at all if he wasn't so focused on the curves of her toned ass as she stretched up. "You did burn my back. Kind of hard to calm all the way down from that."

Bonnie grabbed a condom and stepped down. She was smiling brightly as she walked back to the bed.

Jeremy wanted to ask her if she was okay, if she'd completely put the day's ordeal behind her, but he saved it for later, because right now Bonnie climbed the bed and straddled him again.

She hesitated once she was on. How were they going to do this? Jeremy can't lie down. Can he lie on top of her? That would require him to move back and forth, and his back….

"Hey." He laid a gentle hand on her hip.

"I'm just trying to figure out….logistics. You can't be the one controlling the movements because of your back."

"I have no problem with that."

"You can't lie down."

"Bon." He gave her a little time to figure out what he'd already figured out. She raised her eyebrows, inquiring about what he knew. He raised his higher. He laughed when she dropped her shoulders in exasperation. He licked his lips, distracting Bonnie in the process, and said, "We're in the perfect position."

Bonnie straightened her spine. "Oh. Right." She smiled a smile so sweet and didn't realize it, so when she opened her eyes after the one second it took her to blink, she was taken aback by the look on Jeremy's face. The look…..the look was dangerous. The look was too close, too close to their past, too close to her heart. She needed him to be in the present again.

_Who said he wasn't?_

Was that her voice? She absolutely did not need to read anything in Jeremy's face or his movements or his words or his actions. And then a thought struck her as to another reason why sleeping with the ex boyfriend who'd cheated on her was a bad idea. She could very well have a psychic reading at any time and find out  _exactly_  how Jeremy felt about her or  _exactly_  why he'd cheated or  _exactly_  what he wanted for their future.

So was that what that question was? A psychic reading? One that she was too hurt, in denial, or emotional to recognize as a psychic reading?

Why was she asking questions?! What she  _didn't_  need where Jeremy was concerned was clarity. Because she wouldn't know what to do with it, whichever side the coin fell. No, she needed things to stay foggy. Especially while they were naked!

"Bonnie," Jeremy said sternly and shook her left thigh. "Hey."

"Huh?"

"You looked like you fell into a trance. Were you having a vision?"

"No! No," she repeated more softly when Jeremy was turned off by her outburst. "No trances, no visions, no psychic readings. Don't say those words, okay?" She didn't need a trigger. She hoped her smile looked as encouraging as she wanted it to.

She opened the condom packet in hopes that it would put them back on track. She spat out the foil from her mouth and threw the rest behind her on the bed. She turned the condom in her hand to figure out which end needed to go on him. Once she had that figured out, she ducked her head and kissed her way up his shaft.

Jeremy watched her and wondered what the hell had just happened. First she'd taken to blowing him like she took to learning a new spell and now this strange behavior where he wasn't allowed to say certain words. Had she noticed when he'd been freshly taken aback by how beautiful she was, when his heart had pinged and he'd suddenly missed being with her something fierce?

"Ready?" Bonnie asked after she slipped the condom on.

"Yeah," he answered.

* * *

Bonnie was superbly out of breath. It was better than any workout routine. She'd ridden Jeremy until she came, and then he'd followed suit. Her strokes had been sharp, her teeth clenched, her face rigid. She'd gripped his hair and he'd grabbed her ass and helped her on the forward strokes.

She'd never really stopped thinking about the look on his face, the one that had made her wonder where his head was at. She'd gotten carried away by the worthwhile search for an orgasm, but she'd stared at his handsome face for most of it. And now that she was flopped beside him on the bed, That Look demanded attention and analyzation.

"You okay?" Jeremy asked. He was as out of breath as she was.

"I'm fine," she said with a sloppy smile, and he laughed. "Are you?"

"I'm great."

"Your back."

"I'm great. It feels good; I told you. It's even a little better. I don't even need you to channel me right now." She'd been so focused on reaching her orgasm that she'd forgotten to channel his back. So he'd reached his own with a stinging back and mouth greedy on her left breast.

He gathered her in his arms, and Bonnie let him do it. They stayed silent for a long moment, Bonnie lost in thoughts that he couldn't begin to decode, and him gazing at her the whole time.

"Thank you, Jeremy," Bonnie said softly. He averted his eyes just in time for her to look up. She had no idea she'd been holding his attention captive. "For all of this, for….letting me—-"

"Any time you want, Bonnie."

The declaration made her stomach knot. It was a good knot.

"I just wish I could've been there," he said softly.

"I'm glad you weren't. Even though I—-" She cut herself off, but then she decided to allow him access to this particular feeling. "Even though I really wish you'd been there, too."

She snuggled closer to him and Jeremy could've sworn a section of his heart unfurled. In this moment right here, the way she clung to him and looked at him, Jeremy could entertain the idea that she'd be open to talking about their breakup if he broached the topic. He wanted her to know that he loved her.

* * *

_Mystic Falls, Present Day_

"Why didn't you tell me about the second attack?" John asked and patiently waited for Bonnie to answer on her side of the conversation.

"Because it only happened yesterday," she said lamely.

"We agreed that she needed protection," Jeremy said.

"What exactly happened?" John asked.

"I was ambushed again. I went back to the house to safeguard it, and they were waiting for me. They chased me into the light."

John straightened from the side table that held his cell phone. "Undergrounders avoid light like….well like the plague."

"They were sent on a suicide mission," Bonnie said. "I barely got away. And….I made eye contact with one of them and got a psychic hit: she was trying to protect Klaus from me."

"AKA Klaus sent her," Tyler said.

"And here I was thinking he was here for Elena," Caroline said as she surveyed the street in front of her.

"I was thinking it, too," Elena said.

"So things have changed," John declared. "I told Bonnie that you all shouldn't make any plans about handling this situation until tonight right before you left. That would keep Klaus from getting to one of you and corrupting it. But he's adding players to this,  _victims._ So we need a plan to make sure  _they_  as well as you all make it through this party."

"He could still corrupt one of us," Caroline opined. "Namely me? The lone vampire in the group who can't go around drinking vervain for protection?"

"Caroline just get to my house as soon as possible so we can get ready together," Elena said.

"And it's a chance we're gonna have to take," John answered. "So, ideas?"

"Klaus is after Bonnie, so we need to stay close to her," Jeremy said.

"I can do it," Tyler answered. "Me and Caroline. We'll stay close to her, make sure we're sitting on either side of her."

"No, Elena will," Bonnie spoke up.

Everyone on the call waited for her to explain.

"Think about this: the last time Klaus saw Elena he had complete power over her. She was weak; she was nothing. She was forgettable. This is all about the element of surprise, right? So let's play this the way Klaus remembers, the way he expects. He expects me to be protecting Elena. You and Caroline sitting next to me is way too obvious. I'm the girl who almost killed him the last time we met; I don't need protection.  _Elena_  should be my main bodyguard."

"I like it," John said. "It's smart."

"Are you kidding?" Tyler objected.

"She's been practicing for this," John said of Elena.

"But Klaus is an Original vampire," Elena voiced. While Bonnie's idea was beyond flattering, she absolutely did  _not_  want to be responsible for her life. She didn't want everything to hinge on her. That was too much pressure.

"Okay, if there's at all any doubt about this, then we're not going with that plan," Jeremy said. "I need—-she needs people who'll be ready to defend her if Klaus tries something. Tyler's ready."

"And so am I," Caroline added.

"But it won't look right if Bonnie's sitting that far away from Elena, she's right about that," John pointed out.

"Elena you can do this," Bonnie said.

"Bon—-You're right, the last time Klaus saw me he drained almost all my blood. He scared me; he—-"

"He took Jenna from you," Bonnie cut her off. "He killed Mr. Saltzman; he made you watch two people die, wouldn't you love to get him back for all of that? Wouldn't you love to  _show_  him  _what_ you've survived? Wouldn't you love to throw all of that in his face and  _show_  him what he left in his wake?"

A pregnant silence fell over the conversation as they all waited for Elena to either take flight with Bonnie's speech beneath her wings or stay grounded and let Bonnie's words waft past her.

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Elena—"Jeremy began.

"I can do it, Jer. I promise. I won't let anything happen to her."

If Jeremy and Bonnie had been in the same room, they would've nervously looked at each other. It was one thing for Tyler to tease Jeremy about still caring for Bonnie. It was another thing entirely for Elena to put the idea out in front of all of their friends plus his uncle.

Jeremy looked over at Tyler only to find the werewolf staring at him. They looked away at the same time. Jeremy didn't think anything of it, other than Tyler had most likely guessed his secret.

"Jeremy will be my second guard," Bonnie said and brought both boys back to the topic at hand. "Caroline, you'll be on Tyler, because we can't forget about the werewolves Klaus has been killing."

"That's right," Jeremy agreed.

Tyler had honestly forgotten all possibilities of Klaus being in Mystic Falls for him during this talk of Bonnie being the target.

Bonnie continued, "I'll sit closest to Klaus, and Elena will sit on my other side, and it'll give the impression that I'm protecting her, which I will be. Jeremy, you'll be my obvious bodyguard, because Klaus remembers us as a couple. You'll be the one making it obvious that you're watching after me, but you're Elena's backup. Caroline will sit next to you. Cocooned between you and Tyler, I don't think Klaus will pay much attention to her. She's Tyler's bodyguard. And Tyler, you'll look like you're on your own. You'll stare at Klaus defiantly, whatever it takes to let him know you know what he's been doing and you're just waiting for him to come for you next."

"I like it," John declared. "I like it a lot."

"And guys," Bonnie continued. "I know we're all going in this thinking Klaus is after me….but whatever happens…if he goes after any one of you….I want you guys to look after each other, too. Look after yourselves, not just me. Promise me," she said when she was met with silence on both lines.

"Promise," Caroline said for all of them.

Bonnie's heart jumped to her throat when three loud knocks hit her front door.

"What was that?" Jeremy asked as Elena, Tyler, and John moved closer to the cell phone.

"Stay where you are," Bonnie told her father when he made to go check out the noise.

Rudy hung back while Bonnie moved toward the door.

"What's going on, Bonnie?" John asked. He succeeded at keeping the trepidation he felt out of his voice. Klaus needed to make a show at the party tonight. He wouldn't hurt Bonnie right now.

"Hold on," Bonnie told him. She stood to the side of the door, still a couple of feet away, and asked, "Who is it?"

"Chad."

Bonnie frowned and looked back at her father. Rudy shook his head to let her know he wasn't expecting anyone named Chad.

"I don't know any Chad," Bonnie said.

"Yes, you do."

Monotone.

"We go to the same school; we're both graduating this year."

Carefully and on full alert, Bonnie opened the front door. She looked around to ascertain whether or not Chad had any company. "What are you doing here, Chad?"

"I'm here to pick you up. I'm your driver to the party, Bonnie."

"The party isn't for another couple of hours."

"I'll be waiting out here until it's time."

He turned without another word and stiffly walked to the white limousine he'd parked parallel to her house.

Bonnie closed and locked the door behind him.

"Guys? I've found Klaus' second victim."


End file.
